If you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow – US president Theodore Roosevelt apocryphally said to Douglas MacArthur in 1906.
A Moneyweb analysis last year showed that there are about 13 million registered taxpayers out of a population of about 50 million.
About 5 million of those registered taxpayers are required to submit tax returns. Of those, 3,3 million contribute 99% of all income tax revenue. Of those in turn, 1,5 million generate 84% of all income tax revenue.
I, like many readers of this newspaper, am part of that 1,5 million.
And government has us by the balls.
I think of this with a chuckle every time I file my tax returns. I had about R19 000 in medical expenses over the past tax year that were not covered by medical aid.
Guess how much of that I can claim back from the tax man?
Yes, zero.
Our government – like governments the world over – has learned how to lock 1,5 million people into an ecosystem where we cannot opt out.
If you, like me, are a salaried employee, you pay income tax. You cannot opt out of paying income tax because government forces your employer to deduct your tax before they pay you.
If you, like me, are a property owner, you pay rates and utility charges.
You cannot opt out of paying these charges because government cuts off your access to electricity and water if you don't comply.
Note that nowhere does it say that government actually has to give you value for money taken from you.
So even though you pay for police to protect your life and property, you probably still need to pay for private security to actually do the work.
So even though you pay for an educational system for your kids, you probably still need to pay a private school to actually educate them.
So even though you pay for a health care system, you probably still need to pay a medical aid scheme to give you access to life-saving treatment.
So even though you pay Eskom to generate electricity, you still need to buy candles and batteries and gas stoves and generators to keep your home going through blackouts.
So even though you pay tax on your fuel as insurance in case of a road accident, you still need to pay for your own insurance.
So even though you pay tax on your fuel to fix roads, you still need to pay separate tolls to use those roads.
I am not mentioning all this stuff to complain. I am mentioning all this stuff because I am amused at my fellow 1,5 million who are ranting against Gauteng's etoll system.
The problem isn't about etolls. The problem is that government has us by the balls.
And the only way to fix this problem is not to vote them in.
But who does one vote for?
Where is the party promising to keep traffic lights working so that we don't waste needless hours on the road?
Where is the party promising to maintain sidewalks in suburbs so that pedestrians and prams and wheelchairs don't have to dice with death?
Where is the party promising to enforce speed limits in neighbourhoods where children play instead of focusing on revenue collection on freeways?
Where is the party promising to fill potholes within 24 hours of their being reported?
Where is the party promising to remove muggers at intersections masquerading as window washers?
Where is the party promising that any call to 10111 will be answered in less than a minute?
Where is the party promising that that police will be able to read, write, and count and have driving licences?
Where is the party promising to fire any incompetent government employee?
There isn't one.
There is no political party that is speaking to the values of the 1,5 million people who pay most taxes because that is not enough of a power base to vote in a government.
So every political party is doing its damnedest to show everyone how much they care about the plight of the poor.
Ah well… The fact of the matter is that, in spite of those irritations, 1,5 million of us enjoy a quality of life that we would never dream of giving up to live in Australia or Britain or Canada.
Hearts and minds…