The Division of Revenue Act/Bill is an account of all of the revenue collected in South Africa through direct and indirect taxes. It is broken into National, Provincial and Local spheres of government.
In decentralised countries/federations, your local allocations of revenue are higher than your national allocations. Therefore, local communities have more money and more control over how it is spent. In centralised systems of government, your national allocations are higher than your local allocations. Therefore, local communities have less money and less control over how it is spent.
Here is South Africa’s division of revenue through the three spheres of government:
Total revenue collected: R 2.135 Trillion
National Allocation: |
Provincial Allocation: |
Local Allocation: |
|---|---|---|
67 % |
28 % |
5 % |
This is an extremely centralised system, and it does not work. So, how much are we losing?
The Western Cape pays: |
The Western Cape gets: |
We are allocated a mere 25 % of what we pay in!
The other 75 % is controlled by the National sphere of government, in other words, the ANC!
We “survive” on R 76.9 Billion!
If we were independent we would have an additional R 226.4 Billion at our direct disposal!
In an independent Cape we could cut taxes in half… …and still double services!
Source: DORA No. 24 of 2024
