E-tolls debacle bad for SA's image says economist

[Dups!]

I think the ANC is rather bad for our countries image

Oh, please!!! Such empty posts are bad for our country's image. Granted, the ANC screws up a lot- okay, some idiots within the ANC do- but they have done some things right. It actually is a good thing that we have a multiparty democracy even though at this stage it favours the ruling party.

Things are changing albeit at a snail's pace and the ANC will get its own. In fact, all the other parties will get their rewards depending on how they treat their voters/ population. Politics are a dirty game and no party is squeaky clean, they are all the same but others do a better job of soothing its members and the country at large.

Anyway, I personally think this e-toll saga is good for the country's image cause it shows that we as the population will not take things lying down. Isn't this part of a democracy? Everywhere in the world there are protest and challenges to different governments and we are no different.

[Bizkit87]

So Gov can rape us as long and hard as they want, but if we speak up, we're making our country look bad. Not them, stealing and plundering, and underhandedness and tendrepreneurships and nepotism and and and....

Mark my words, years down the line, when the ANC has "lost" the country to someone reputable, it will trace its roots back to the 'e-toll revolution'

[UnUnOctium]

Oh come on... you didn't know? (Sorry, I should have said credit, not debt). It's far from hidden knowledge.
Why do you think America has a bad credit rating? They give out money to everyone and charge low interest rates on it.

Presuming you're talking about government debt (i.e. government bonds) the government is not a lender, it's a borrower. So they ask for x amount of money which they promise to you that they will return it after t amount of time with added interest i. The whole purpose of these ratings is to try and score governments on how well they keep their word and whether it's likely to improve/stay the same/degrade.

[EliteOp]

Oh yes, apart from being one of the highest crime and corrupted countries in the world this whole "Scamral" debacle is bad for South Africa's image indeed...
The people of this country is slowly starting to wake up.

[Bizkit87]

Oh yes, apart from being one of the highest crime and corrupted countries in the world this whole "Scamral" debacle is bad for South Africa's image indeed...
The people of this country is slowly starting to wake up.

and even this "it will make us look bad business" seems to be a complete bunch of BS

This might sound evil, but i hope the ANC keeps on screwing up, soon the majority of voters will realise that the ANC has absolutely no moral, it doesn't care for its voting majority, and its only trying to make a few elite rich as hell...

Chris Hart, an economist at Investment Solutions, said if the interdict destabilised government expenditure to that extent, then there was “a weakness in government expenditure that they (government) are not telling us about”.

Hart said the delay in implementing e-tolling was not a big deal, stressing it would cost government less than R2 billion a year to service the debt incurred for the GFIP.

This was less than 0.2 percent of total planned government expenditure in this year’s budget, which for the first time exceed R1 trillion.

[JStrike]

This should have come out of the Gauteng Government's finances, and then it would only effect their credit rating, instead of the whole of SA

[system32]

The article reads like another SCAMRAL advert.
IMHO, it's good for ZA image as it shows democracy at work.

And R20b over 10 years is nothing for Gauteng.

It's correct that we object to the inefficient collection system, where money is wasted.

[VJB 449]

I think the ANC is rather bad for our countries image

+1

[Allin]

... Dawie Roodt said the country’s leadership appeared is weak and confused ...

There you go Dawie, I fixed it for you!

[McT]

Only government and ANC to blame for this circus. It would never had come to this if they had listened to logic from the word go.

[j4ck455]

“People are prepared to pay for tolls, but with conditions. The real issue is we are losing face because clearly the politicians are not in charge here. It’s very bad for SA’s image,” he said.

Sure some people (about 500000 of them) are prepared to etoll their buts into oblivion, the rest of us clearly are not prepared to pay our hard earned money into the etolling pit, however many of us are prepared to pay for road improvements via other means like an increase in the existing fuel tax that we have all been paying for as long as we have been buying petrol/diesel.

As for the politicians being taught a lesson that they serve the people and not the other way around, it's about bloody time and I think internationally it will actually give South Africa a much better image as it suggests that the days of corrupt politicians not being held accountable are numbered.

[DXL]

So wait let me get this right. SA's image is tarnished and they cannot service debt. Does it make a difference to me? No.
In the time since the circus has been in charge we have had : water, electricity, crime, roads breaking up, corruption, medical care, army, police force and just about every other thing they touch, falling apart so tell me how will this affect me? It won't.
This will only stop gvt corruption and save the man on the street from paying for it

Just to add my 2c into this thread.

Electricity has increased 300% from just 3 years ago.
Our Petrol price does not know what the meaning of coming down is.
Our Broadband prices are extremely high and havn't seen any real relief to the average man.
Our mobile call rates gets first prize in Africa for being the highest.
Our Politicians stay in 5 star establishments with 2 luxury cars each paid for by Govt.
Our Multinationals have fixed the bread price 200% higher for over 5 years and have got away with a small fine.
Our pride and Joy being MTN has the power to conduct underhanded deals between governments and pull it off.
( Which makes me wonder why competition never exists in the mobile space in South Africa )
Prisoners are being released simply because some that got caught need a way out.
Housing projects costing Billions we never see.
Our roads are decaying very rapidly with POTHOLES signs to warn you.
Stealing copper is not regarded as anything major, yet it can bring our country to a standstill still classified as petty theft even if it's few million rand.

What sort of country are we living in.
IMHO - Our government just does not know how to run a country.

A little example that recently amazed me that i share alot is Rwanda.
Rwanda wanted to intensify competition in their mobile sector and reduce tariffs and needed to get it done quickly.
The government extended and invite to one company only AIRTEL and the very next month when news got out even before Airtel stepped into the country MTN dropped data prices by 50%. How brilliant are these rwandans , can our government not think along those lines.

Allow private provincial operators to supply electricity to the GRID.
Current world refining price of petrol is 1/2 dollar per litre which = R4 where does the other R8 per litre go to.
ICASA simply cannot implement legislation - Here i dont know who is reponsible the staff or the man in charge but i guess BOTH.

DXL - Team

[kingrob]

I think the cANCer government is really bad for our country's image.

[j4ck455]

A little example that recently amazed me that i share alot is Rwanda.
Rwanda wanted to intensify competition in their mobile sector and reduce tariffs and needed to get it done quickly.
The government extended and invite to one company only AIRTEL and the very next month when news got out even before Airtel stepped into the country MTN dropped data prices by 50%. How brilliant are these rwandans , can our government not think along those lines.

The answer is no, this (not our) government cannot do the same since this government has its gravy train fingers in all the big cookie jars: Telkom, MTN, Vodacom, Neotel, Broadband Infraco.

Until such time as this government sells off the shares it holds in telecoms companies and no longer has a vested interest in protecting them from real competition, we will continue to be shafted by those same companies.

[Bern]

Anyway, I personally think this e-toll saga is good for the country's image cause it shows that we as the population will not take things lying down. Isn't this part of a democracy? Everywhere in the world there are protest and challenges to different governments and we are no different.

The article reads like another SCAMRAL advert.
IMHO, it's good for ZA image as it shows democracy at work.

And R20b over 10 years is nothing for Gauteng.

It's correct that we object to the inefficient collection system, where money is wasted.

I agree this is actually good for the countries image - we are seen as another crime ridden corrupt African country where politicians' personal interests determine how business is done. This shows our legal system still has some value along wit the rule of law. This means foreign companies will have more incentive to invest as they believe the legal system can and will protect their interests. Compare that to say Zim or the DRC where you need a "fixer" just to think about doing any business...