The Zimbabwean libertarian activist writes: "I am not sure to what extent RSA [the Republic of South Africa] has ratified and domesticated the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, but one would need to question why, if carbon tax is as good for pollution control as it is for ‘sharing wealth’, why G20 club mates USA, Russia and China resist it so much. Therein lies its fallacy. Politicians have reason to worry, especially the ANC [African National Congress], facing possible elections in 2012, have to justify why the Alexander poor have to vote for the party in the face of such poverty. Once the excitement of COP17 abated in 2011, Jacob Zuma would not want to go to the elective conference in Mangaung, December 2012 with stinky fiscal baggage in his boot!"
He continues his commentary: "I also insist the causes RSA generally identifies with, if not outright self-defeating, are shamelessly hypocritical. In a bid to preserve Chinese billion dollar investments, Jacob Zuma violated the ANC code of freedom of movement by refusing the Dalai Lama a visa to Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu’s birthday. China imposes ‘fiscal death penalty’ on countries that infringe its paranoid ‘one China policy’. Thus it may not occur to Mr. Zuma whether or not imposing carbon tax during ‘election year’ is prudent until he comes face-to-face with political reality. The so-called benefits of carbon tax - oversight of the tax by the existing revenue authority; fewer players involved and therefore lower cost; simpler structure; lower administrative burden; minimized anti-pollution lobbies – pale in significance compared to pre-electoral vilification."
More: "Juggling sustainability, politics, job creation and price competitive interests is something South African authorities will have to lose sleep on. The prospects of exports being banned because of non carbon compliance may seem real, but as long as other G20 members do not seem fazed, Mr. Zuma can relax. Southern Africa is a major enabler of South Africa’s industrialization. I do not foresee a scenario where these ‘poor’ neighbours can use carbon-content carbon emission as a basis for trade! Duane Newman may argue that the ‘investor-driven carbon disclosure project’ will be the ‘in thing’ a future trade relations, but for the citizens of Alexander, any law that does not bring food to the table is a preserve of excitable CO17 environmentalists."
Rejoice Ngwenya: "The Carbon Tax War In South Africa Ain't A Worthy Cause. The ANC Should Think About South Africa's Poor & Unemployed, Before Leftist Environmentalists""
