The ANC’s London Branch has proposed that SA law should be changed to ensure that South Africans living abroad get “No representation without taxation”.
Interim branch chairman Xolani Xala has been quoted by The South African, a newspaper published for expatriates, as telling a Youth Day event in Brixton that his branch would table the proposed change at the ANC’s Midrand conference.
The branch wants to prevent citizens abroad from voting unless they pay tax to the SA Revenue Service (Sars), under the “no tax, no vote” principle, even if they are not earning income in SA.
But Ludre Stevens, global chairman of the DA Abroad, told The South African
: “It’s ironic that the ANC, who fought for the right to vote, are now proposing that this be taken away.
“According to Sars there are 10.3 million registered taxpayers.
“The IEC has estimated that 28 million people are eligible to vote in South Africa.
“Is the ANC therefore implying 17.7 million South Africans, including welfare beneficiaries and students, should not be voting in the next election?”
Pretoria News