My tax here in Norway is more than what my entire gross salary was in RSA.
I happily pay it to keep things as they are.
* Free schooling
* Free university
* Free Medicare
* Free dentistry for kids up to 17
* Decent recycling
* Almost no litter around
* Huge safety net for the unemployed and disabled
* Above means almost no crime
* Decent roads
* Snowplowing of roads every morning
* Civil prisons
* Loads of paid vacation time (gov controlled)
* Mandatory 3rd party insurance for all drivers
* Mandatory EU checks / AA checks for car roadworthiness every 2 years. (not strictly taxes, but just had to throw that in there)
* A bunch of other stuff
The one thing that DOES piss me off is the R5k a year TV license fee.
But yeah all said and done, we pay a ton in taxes, but it works because the majority are paying taxes to take care of the minority. This system won't stand a snowballs chance in hell if it was implemented in SA without a
MUCH stronger work force and much lower dependency load.