#SACitizensUnite: An open letter to Cyril Ramaphosa from Mark Sham!

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Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa! I’m writing to you for a number of reasons and I hope you eventually see this letter. But I also hope many other South Africans see it too!

On Tuesday, 14 July 2020, I made a Facebook LIVE video about the frustrations I’m experiencing both in South Africa, and with the political party that you lead. At the time, I was VERY angry and in the video, I told anyone who was willing to listen that I believe we are in an abusive relationship with the ANC. I hope you watch it.

It’s been three days since I posted this video, and it has gone viral in ways I had never imagined. So many people have commented on the video in agreement, shared the video across their social media platforms, and written to me personally to thank me for saying what they had felt for so long.

Many others have attacked me for standing up and saying what I believe, and I guess that’s ok too. I think of myself as someone that can appreciate different perspectives other than my own. If you look at my responses, I have not attacked one person back. I don’t think that will help the situation at all.

I have calmed down a bit since making the video above, and I have decided that there is a time to be angry, and then there is a time to focus that energy toward action and change. I stand by the things I said in the video above, but I also have a deep longing to be part of the solution, and help others to get involved too!

IT’S WORTH CONSIDERING WHY THIS VIDEO WENT VIRAL!

If for any reason, you don’t watch the video above, then I’d like to highlight some of the reasons why I’m frustrated, and also why I think many other citizens are frustrated too:

  • Our economy has been stagnant for almost a decade according to GDP growth. South Africans are poorer now than they were 10 years ago.
  • The very stats your government provides tells us that crime levels are up in almost every sector including murder, gender based violence, rape, and hijackings.
  • Unemployment has gone from 22% in 2008 to 30% in 2020.
  • Irregular government expenditure was R62bn in the last fiscal year. That’s R11bn up from the year before.
  • Almost all the major SOEs are in financial ruin as per the auditor general report that comes out each year.
  • Load shedding turned 13 years old this year.
  • In 2020, 60% of tax revenue will go toward the salaries of government officials. Up from 47% the year before. Many of these people are unqualified to be in these positions in the first place, and many others have criminal records.
  • More than R700mil has been spent on the Zondo Commission and we don’t have much to show for all that time, money, and effort spent?
  • We spent R10mil on mobile clinics that our own minister of health declared aren’t up to standard and can’t be used. This is a classic proxy for the many other ANC bungles over the years.
  • S&P, Fitch, and Moodys all downgraded South Africa to junk status under the watch of the ANC over the last few years.
  • On this day in 2010, the rand was trading at R7.57 to the dollar. Today we are at R16.67.
  • In 2010, the average petrol price for Unleaded 93 was R8.02. Currently it is R14.83. In June last year, Unleaded cost R16.48 per litre. The price is only lower now because of international oil prices.
  • The ANC has degraded the quality of our formal education system. Think 30% pass rates, and abject standards at schools in rural areas.
  • The numbers tell us just how many skilled workers are leaving or planning to leave South Africa. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that a brain drain is not good for an economy that is already short on skills.

I have to add one additional point in here. One of the main reasons I made this video is because of the sheer number of people on the street begging for money and food. I see it everyday Mr. President, and it breaks my heart. I don’t know if you drive around much, but I wonder if you see all these people who are currently living such difficult lives? Does it not pain you at your core to see this? These people are human beings. They are cold, hungry, desperate, and destitute.

IS THIS ACCEPTABLE? AND WHO DO WE HOLD ACCOUNTABLE?

This is just a small snippet of the frustrations, but I’m sure you get the point. As President of our country, I’m sure you know full well about many other problems that we don’t. But these problems impact us ALL in so many ways.

I am a small business owner, and I have started a few businesses that have failed. In the end, I could point fingers to many different factors for my failures, but I learned over time that I was ultimately responsible as the founder, CEO, and shareholder. On that basis, I’m just wondering then:

  • Why can’t we get to a point that we agree that how this country is being run is unacceptable without it turning into a race row?
  • Why can’t we hold government officials accountable for the corruption and looting that is prevalent in South Africa?
  • Is it wrong to want a government that look after ALL its people and have our best interests at heart?
  • Why has it been so hard for our government focus on creating a stable environment in which businesses, especially small businesses, can thrive?
  • Why can’t the government admit the they have been in power for 26 years and yet, by the numbers (and sentiment), we are going backward?
  • Why does the government constantly divide its people against each other by using race, transformation, and the Apartheid card?

There is one other thing I have to mention. No matter what happens in South Africa, government officials always get their salary at the end of the day. Even during COVID. You have a sense of how many people are suffering right now because of this pandemic, but government officials are far removed from this pain because they always get paid.

And no matter what the ANC has done in the last 26 years, your supporters have voted you back into power. I think it’s fair to say that not much changes because there are no consequences to the collective actions of the ANC.

THERE IS A TIME TO BE ANGRY, AND THERE IS A TIME TO ACT!

Make no mistake, I am frustrated and so many other citizens are too. But I pride myself on being someone that can express myself, and then get up and do something about the situation I find myself in. I want to be part of a solution. I just don’t know if it’s possible for the ANC to be part of the solution. But I hope I’m wrong. I want to be wrong.

Either way, I’m going to go out on a limb here and try make a difference anyway. Even if I feel little to no hope, I’m going to try. And I’m going to try rally other South Africans to be part of the solution too!

One of my deep frustrations with most of my fellow South Africans, is that we are largely an apathetic nation. We get angry, we moan, and then we do nothing.

With this in mind, I posted a follow-up video on my public Facebook page yesterday, and I called for action. I told people that it’s ok to be angry, but then they have to use that anger to motivate action and change.

In this video above, I mentioned that I don’t have all the answers, but I just know we all have to do something rather than nothing. I decided on the spot to create a campaign called #SACitizensUnite. Then I suggested that we all write an email to you via the presidentrsa@presidency.gov.za address, and that we use #SACitizensUnite as our subject line.

Many people called for a tax revolt in the comments section of my videos but I don’t think this is helpful in the long run. South Africa is in a mess already. I believe in creating positive change instead, and so I asked people to write this email to you just like I am right now, and list their pain points to you. And then I asked them to ask you for change. You are the leader of this nation, and the leader of your political party.

It’s not that I think an email will fix things, but I think 50,000 emails might get your attention. In fact, I would love to see 250,000 emails arrive in this inbox in a week.

It’s not that I think an email will fix things, but it will help South Africans practice taking action. And that’s a start. Maybe the media even gets wind of the #SACitizensUnite movement, and we can leverage off them to fuel this conversation.

DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING!

Mr. President, like I said, I hope you see this letter, and I hope others do too. And I hope this letter inspires others to do something positive. We don’t often realise as citizens how much power we have collectively if we just stand up and do something TOGETHER.

Mr. President, as angry as I was, and still am, I am willing to play my part in making South Africa better, but you and the ANC have to come to the party too.

Unlike the sentiment of others, I believe that things can always change. I’ve seen sports teams come back from the stroke of defeat, I’ve seen miracles happen, and I’ve seen people do things I thought were never possible. I know there is always a chance. But I am also a realist. There’s a lot that has to shift, and our government forms the biggest part of that shift.

Mr. President, and anyone else reading this, I hope you have read this letter in the spirit in which it was written. I hope this letter gets shared far and wide for the right reasons (positive change).

The ball is now in your court Mr. President. The ball is in your court fellow South Africans. Do me a favour, get involved!

Just a normal South African citizen,
Mark Sham

72 COMMENTS

  1. Great I recon you covered a lot of ground for many of us…video shared…best wishes for yours and our future

  2. Very nice Mark, you have pin pointed the very heart of the matter, but you neglect to mention Farm murders as well. I do not think we even begin to realize the absolute devastating affect this has on our country, now and in the future.

    You are very right by saying the ball is in the ANC’s court, unfortunately I really doubt it if they would rise to the occasion. And I honestly do not think it is their intention to be successful, to change, to better themselves or South Africa, because if they were the least bothered, your letter would never have seen the light. Let’s hope and pray they will proof you wrong, but don’t hold your breath.

  3. Will anything be done? The answer is NO,Cyril and his corrupt comrades don’t give a shit,
    Thier motto is FOLLOW ME I AM RIGHT BEHIND YOU

  4. Very well said👏🏻👏🏻 Agree with everything. Something needs to be done ASAP before we end up like Zimbabwe.

  5. A tax revolt is the only solution Mark. The powers that be will only listen then I’m afraid. But good that you are trying other avenues first
    #taxrevolt

    • I agree. Money talks. Pay taxes into an account to be paid over to a responsible government. When such is in place.

  6. I totally agree with Mark. We feel so hopeless watching our beloved country get ruined by people that hasnt Got a clue to govern and just want to steal. There is trust worthy people our there make use of them before theres nothing left!

  7. I support your letter and have written to Ramaposa.
    If you would like a copy of my letter please let me know your email address

  8. Mr President hang your head in shame. You have the knowledge to turn things around but continue to ignore crime , rapes ,farm mirders. You want to pilfer our pensions to throw at poorly managed state enterprise. You are happy to pay unqualified, old aged cabinet ministers 60% of tax money as hospitals and schools go t o ruin. When will you do your job in the interst of what is best for this country???? Will it be another Zimbabwe?

  9. 100% spot on! Ive been law abiding throughout my life but now like most of South Africa have been turned into a criminal by the irrational new covid “laws”. So you think the rules are stupid and best ignored. Mere suggestions. After all we watch our “leaders” pillage and act above the law so why not the average person? Because it entrenches more wrong. Doesn’t change anything for the better. Least of all the police who will take no notice except to steal from citizens. After all who will you report them to? How about those very manipulated crime stats actually be published daily so there is no time to change them and we can actually see how much real difference the service makes to the people of SA. How about a time limit on goverment panels to achieve the tasks needed. No more delaying tactics. No more employing a buddy to assess the buddies who are bleeding the country dry. How about the Presidency actually responding to emails! Yes I’m angry too and have been sending tweets to them. But as usual they delay and ignore. No response. No concern. No consequence for government. Let us as individuals unite with you to shout louder. To be heard. To no longer be ignored. Thank you for clearly saying what so many feel.

  10. Hi Mark
    Thank you for sharing and venting!
    I have travelled and lived in Europe, but nothing beats living the life in SA. It pains me that due to dire straits in our country, that I have consented for my only daughter of 8yrs
    to move to the Netherlands with her father. For many reasons: safety, education, job opportunities, earning a different currency other than the rand…
    I am at a quandary, as I love living in Cape Town, but am also considering leaving at some point. I am lucky that I have an EU passport, but in hindsight I really don’t want to have to leave! 😞

  11. Well said we are very sorry we had to leave SA after 30years not a day goes by that we do not miss it and it’s people black and white we could cry for the people that have been left out of living a better life because of greedy politicians and people in government grabbing everything. A heat broken English / South African

  12. Mark. We all agree with what you are saying. The country is fucked. Everyone who has a way with words are out there and stating the obvious. We are apathetic (and thanks for explaining the meaning to us). I don’t have the answers, do you? I can add hundreds of reasons why the country is fucked as you call it but whats the sense because even those that have the balls or energy to make videos like yours are stuffing off to London. How apathetic is that? (shall i explain the meaning to you). I cant believe the following you got on your video because its no different to all the other blah blah we’ve heard from others. South African citizens are not as stupid as you may believe and give us some credit for intelligence. Unless you can actually sit down and make some reachable proposals taking into account who would be putting these proposals in place you might as well open another business. I was one of those who in my youth was sent to go fight the Swart Gevaar as it was called. What was the end result? Have you ever watched a strong healthy locust attacked by a swarm of ants? I wont insult your intelligence with a answer as to who won. Unless you have a more solid answer other than for us all to bitch on social media you are wasting our time and yours. I don’t know maybe this is how you make your living?
    I personally think that you should leave for London on the first flight out and start a business there. You might find it a bit more difficult because i believe the place is already swamped by South Africans.
    Best Wishes

    Max Rennie

    • Max I think you should also leave for London.In your mind you have already written off SA.
      What’s the point in sticking around if you’re desperately unhappy?
      I’m told Perth is also very popular.

  13. I support collective civil awareness for a better working and representative leadership for our country.
    I offer a visual banner to bring citizens under a common ideal. To whom can I send such an idea for consideration ?
    Thanks
    Tobie

  14. My family emigrated to S A from the UK many years ago – worked hard to build a home for our family. The years have rolled by and now retired and living on a limited income after having to retire early due to having to undergo treatment for cancer. The whole government should hang their heads in shame when you experience what has .happened to this once beautiful country. People used to queue to vote – now they queue for food!!! The hungry are plentiful while the fat cats do nothing – just full of empty promises. I urge this government to respond urgently to halt the situation getting more out of hand.

  15. So well done Mark. Your power to galvanize people lies in the fact that you are just an ordinary South African citizen and not a politician. We can relate to you, and seeing an ‘ordinary’ man stand up and speak out, gets us out of our stupor of accepting the unacceptable. #SACitizensUnite

  16. Well said Mark. Mr President, action is needed urgently to save SA. We will work with you on this.

  17. Hi Mark, Thank you for both of you inspiring videos, I share your frustration, I’m a white pensioner living in this once beautiful country, and sadly I’ve The Association of National Corruption (ANC) in 26 years destroy and financially Bruin ‘‘tis country to the point that we are now on our knees fighting to stay alive. I to have written to the President numerous times with not one reply… it’s like Simon & Garfunkel said “ The Sounds of Silence”
    is deafening.

  18. Good for you Mark. Well written!! Hope the President reads it. I wonder how much will sink in!!!

  19. I hope all who reads the above views, make a positive change and unite during this crisis.

  20. Dear Mark. Well said.
    Unfortunately, you are preaching to the converted. These words will never reach Ramaphosa’s ears. I do not feel hopeful for our future. All the best to you.

  21. Dear Mark
    I hope you read this reply to your open letter to our Prez.
    You make some good points and I hope the Prez takes cognisance.
    However, your letter lacks perspective.
    We cannot discount the past.
    No matter how much you wish to focus on the future, the legacy of our colonial and apartheid past still haunts millions who, together with their forebearers, have little accumulated wealth and lack the antecedent skills that are passed from one generation to another.
    This continued for approximately a century while most whites benefitted from racist policies that gave them an unfair advantage while indigenous black people were treated as second class citizens.Much of the economy and infrastructure then and now is built on the backs of cheap black labour, of which today they are still not equal equity partners.
    We are economically the most divided nation in the world.The United Nations (UN) has an index whereby the discrepancy between the rich and poor in a country is measured.This Gini index places South Africa at number one.
    Approximately 10% of South Africans, mostly white, own between 60-70% of SA’s wealth.
    The following statistics are a damning testimony of how skewed income levels are.
    In 1996 the average income per black household was approximately R25 000 per annum.For whites it was R125 000.
    By 2016 the average income for black people had grown to R125 000 and that of whites to a massive R625 000 (Source : IHS Insight SA)
    -Haroon Bhorat, Prof in Economics and Director of Policy Research Unit, UCT.
    An average black person survives on approximately $5 per day.
    Whites represent 4,6 million (approximately 8,9%) of our total population yet own in excess of 60% of SA’s wealth.
    Whites are not suffering to the extent that blacks are and to deny this makes it difficult to have an informed discussion on our current situation and the future.
    We are an imbalanced society and government has a responsibility to narrow the historical gap between the haves and the have not’s.
    To argue that all South Africans suffer if the economy suffers can be likened to the current #blacklivesmatter (BLM) debate.
    We have to acknowledge that specifically black people have been denied much and still have great disadvantages that hold them back.
    We whites cannot expect to continue with our disproportionate standard of living without making the necessary sacrifices.The Davis Tax Commission has started a debate on imposing a wealth tax of sorts and recently Prof Pierre de Vos has proposed a tax on Estates, in addition to duties.
    Ineptitude and incompetent government officials should not be tolerated and the ANC together with their alliance partners have a responsibility towards all South Africans to root out corruption.
    So, with due regard to our past and present challenges we must encourage structural reforms to our economy and societal inequalities that persist.
    Yours sincerely
    Charl Adams

  22. Well done Mark. I am hoping that your videos motivated 1000’s of other people the way they motivated me. I feel strongly about this subject as I came from Zimababwe (rather Rhodesia) and we have all watched as that beautiful country went to ruins. Mostly because the people who kept the economy alive left, and through, like us, government management. I have lost my home and my job through covid and the poor economy, like so many others out there, but i see it in a positive light and for me it’s time for change. So yes, Let’s make a difference, let’s be heard, let’s work to be proud people seen as one stable nation.

  23. I feel exactly the same…I soooo want 🇿🇦 to be the best place it can be for everybody. I want it to be well managed by the “elect Elite”, to the benefit of every single South African, to stop lying to us, to correct mistakes, to honour the “So help me God”-vow….we dont have time or money any more to waste on nothing!

  24. I can not understand the mind set of a government / political party, that can sit and look at the complete mess around them and not admit that they have stuffed up everything that they have touched. EVERYTHING!!!. You cannot correct a wrong until you admit that something is wrong.
    Wake up you idiots or get the hell out of there before its too late.
    Remember that once you have taken every thing from that that have something, you are going to have to come up with something yourself.
    Based on your history this means the end of the road for every body. Get out the way and let people you want this country to prosper have a chance.

  25. I cry often for South Africa I cry and I pray for change. I searched the president’s email address two days ago; I wrote two articles on my blog, and the most recent one was a plea to see the people not as statistics, but as people, in the light of Ubuntu. My focus is less on the economy and yet it’s all the same sad and heart wrenching experience, whenever I see our people confused, stuck, helpless, and reduced to serving the system, being the broken system that they voted to get away from. Hope and love, understanding and forgiveness are all waiting for them when they speak the truth, reconciliation.

    We all make mistakes, but this is becoming a joke, it’s so obvious, so in your face, I can’t stand scrolling through the archives, the statistics, 12 million children in the foster system. The rate of recidivism, is deeply disturbing, violent crimes have made SA the rape capital of the world. It cannot continue and I am so willing to help, give them direction, anything. I am even willing to give my life if it would help, so the black people can finally forgive us for our forefathers mistakes, a redemption, but it is no use; so I write, I research and I cry.

    Cheers for starting something which I am sure, will have an impact. Every little success, is a success, each step we take is a step, just as long as it has direction. I am with you, I want to be the change we wish to see in the world!

  26. Wonderful! I’m a nearly 70yr old widow and can’t actually do much(have oesteoporosis) do the laundry for the family(6people) and I LOVE what you have said! I hope something will be done!

  27. Asseblief Mnr President
    1. Erken dat geld uit Staatskas gesteel -moet terugbetaal word. Laat weet ons as landsburgers daar is onmiddellik terme en planne om biljoene terug te vind en mense moet boet vir hul dade.
    2. Die hele wêreld weet boere word daagliks vermoor.Erken dit en sê hoe u dit gaan stop.
    3. Ernstige beplanning om werklose mense onmiddellik terug te kry by die ekonomie.
    4.Gesinsbeplanning -ons kan nie nog mense bykry wat nie deur hul ouers versorg kan word nie.

  28. People forget that for a large part of its existence the ANC was a terrorist organisation and that most of those members are now in government. They are not politians but rather ex-terrorists.
    Terrorist organisations, by their very existence, are not democratic nor do they care about the collateral damage that occurs along the way to them achieving their ultimate goal.
    As a terrorist organisation their goal was black domination and the exclusion of all whites. What makes anyone think that their objective has changed?
    Do you think they care that millions must suffer for them to achieve their goal?
    They are not interested in bettering “their” people or creating a productive and harmonious country. Like Mugabe, all they care about is increasing their own personal wealth.
    This pandemic has landed in the ANC’s lap and they will use it to quietly introduce a Communist / Facist State.
    Then where will we be? Perhaps you are right in your video – we should just leave.

  29. Hi Mark,

    I agree one 100% with your sentiments. See the response from the Presidency to my comments on the latest lockdown regulations ” Dear valued client, Due to the nationwide lockdown declared by the President, the Presidential Hotline will not be available to respond to your queries until the lockdown is over”.
    How ridiculous is this? This CLEARLY shows that they have no concern for this country’s citizens, whom they will continually ride roughshod over to the detriment of the country, and only benefits the ANC fatcats who continue as if the country is not bleeding economically.

  30. Hi Charl
    There is a lot of truth in what you say. However, what you don’t mention is important as well.
    What has happened since 1994, just a few points:
    (i)A very large component of our population live from social grants. This has created a culture of “we are entitled to this and we don’t have to work”;
    (ii)How do you justify the child grant paid for every baby that is born? The mother takes the money and the kid is looked after by the grandmother in most cases;
    (iii)How do you justify the billions spent on SAA? Billions that could have been used to uplift the poor in this country. Prof Jannie Rossouw of WITS has been saying for the last five, six years “just give SAA away””! Now the ANC government wants to pump in another R 10 billion into this failed SOE;
    (iv)Can you remember that R 246 million was spent on Nkandla, tax payers money? Nothing happened about that, Zuma is living there in luxury. A Minister, someone considered to be one of our leaders, said the swimming pool is a “fire pool” or whatever!
    (v)Why are people not not being charged for corruption? The ANC is clearly protecting their cadres.
    (vi)Are there any organization established by blacks to assist and uplift their own people?
    (vii)The ANC government has wrecked our education system. How many times since 1994 has the curriculum been changed? If you get 30% for a subject you pass the subject!!!
    I can carry on. Yes the apartheid system was wrong, impacted millions, etc. etc. but surely you cannot use that forever to blame everything that is wrong in this country. It is time for this ANC government to wake up as it is taking this beautiful country the Zimbabwe way – we are not far from that.

  31. Is any thing ever the ANC’s fault. Corruption, nonservice delivery, mismanagement etc etc. They always seem to blame someone else and the voting fodder believe them

  32. Dear Mark I am sure many South Africans agree with you the solution is in unity, there are too many politicians that are causing division in our country. The only solution for the future is to get rid of our totally incompetent leaders in politics and in business and put capable people in those jobs. BEE is what started the decline.

  33. Dear Mark
    Well said…I’m loving in a small farmer’s community.
    .have a small business and giving jobs to 7 people of the informal settlement.Covid and the lockdown ruined my business..its a case of no work no money . I could not let my workers died of hunger so I keep on paying them..For weeks I have to keep up with this..I noticed that in the informal and rural areas were hungry people…ten of our white south african housewives came together and we start cooking in our own kitchens and we fed 500 hungry people a day up till level three…food parcels were donated but was looted as well by Npo s what the government put there..
    To me a born farmers daughter and now a mother and grandmother I cant hush no more..its always the fault of apartheid but no it’s not.. apartheid is just on the other shoe blacks that undermined whites..and why…see how our country went down the drain since the ANC are in charge….no Telekom.. Stairways escom..etc..then covid pandemic came and you started with bans…bans of alcohol and cig the two articles that bring in revenue for our more than insolvent country..
    Mr President I had a lot of respect for you…you are a well educated well spoken man that for sure can set the record straight..Sir be like the boss man the leader that you are suppose to be and start acting..dont be lead by the nose of your incompetent parliament members…by starting to lift bans so revenue can come in
    close school dont let the youth die leaders of the future became sick..be more strict with the state cookie jar..keep hands out there..make rules like if you want to use alcohol you only allowed it in their homes ..let families visit each other by now we know the rules..south Africans are family people you are breaking their spirit by keeping them apart..no parent will make his child sick if you loved them and neither will a child do that to his parent…make loitering an offence and if you not on your way to the shop or to your work you must not be on street.
    And as so many South Africans told you remember what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Color is a word to me…nothing else but I had to see how black and brown people had to suffer from hunger and how white people fed them…let stand together.
    .as people not racists
    .Let’s bring God back to our lives back to the parliament back to South Africa and we will flourish.

  34. It’s hard not to agree with you, Mark. As much as one wants to sit back, watch and see how this all pans out, its the wrong thing to do. I commend you for your courage to post this. No ethical, sane, logic, South Africa loving patriot can read this and say they do not agree. I often the one who keeps thinking this will come right. Facts are, we simply cannot (anymore) sit and watch from a sideline. We have to turn this into real action. I am 100% sure there are similar people to me, hoping and praying for a real change, but hoping and wishing will get you nowhere if we all don’t start to do something about it!!

  35. Well said Mark , Ramaphosa gets told what to say by a bunch of idiots 🙈🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃🏍

  36. There certainly is power in numbers – remember the ‘Zuma must Fall’ campaign when people took to the streets to protest peacefully. I do have one or two thoughts/ suggestions for change, so look forward to #sacitizensunite portal. A little disillusioned by your statement that you will be out of here asap, however.

  37. Hi Mark
    Firstly, it is absolutely wonderful to see young South Africans voicing their opinions on the current situation but also the past 26 years. I have my own business. I have in my lifetime experienced all the changes you can think of. I have done my utmost to make a difference in the lives of the under privileged. My staff represents more than 90% of the under priviliged. I do my utmost to educate and offer opportunities for all people in my employ. We look after each and every one. We are priviliged to have received funds in these trying times from our Government and we have not retrenched a single person, in fact, we have employed more people and created opportunities to employ more disadvantaged people. Thank you Mr Ramaphosa
    Having said that, I agree 100% with your point of view, we need continuity, we need the opportunities to provide jobs to escalate, we need to create opportunities for those on the street corners. We strive, through our company, to achieve that constantly. If you employ one person, you support a family of 4 to 6 people. My plea to government would be to please stop the plundering and allow us small to medium business owners to grow the economy and provide job opportunities. I agree, we don’t see consequences, for those plundering and I actually believed Mr Ramaphosa will change that. Unfortunately I think he is purely a puppet. However, we will as a company endeavor to make a difference in every person’s life we can and which is within our capability.
    I am also angry and frustrated but I choose to get up every day, go to work and make a difference in another person’s life. Keep up the good work mate, don’t stop please, we need youngsters like yourself to make stand. I salute your courage and will join this effort to make a difference. We are part of the solution, not the problem.
    Terence

  38. Couldn’t agree more .They are only out there to line their pockets.Don’t for one minute that they care for this country.

  39. Whites must remember that this is not their country so stop 🛑 thinking that’s black people will vote for u forget there’s a lot that happened to our forefathers so the economy doesn’t exist except that it’s the way to oppress Africans so that whites can milk all the resources that we have if South Africa is hot for u then go back too your origins

  40. I am fully behind you on all topics mentioned in your letter. We can only hope that you will receive some acknowledgement from our Government. I doubt but anything is possible with our decision makers.

  41. Thank you for the start Mark. Every journey starts with a “first step”. All change started as an Idea at some point. Let’s find our voice and create the platform to use it on,

  42. Totally with you Mark, we need to protest against these lying thieves! They have not lost anything but we have and will continue to lose whilst they help themselves to everything they can ay their greedy selfish hands on

  43. ANC = ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL which is the result of our Apartheid system.

    The Whites (hate that term ) did not teach the underdog Black (also hate that term) to become managers.
    We have the situation where our Black people do not know how to govern. Steal they can.

    Example – When I move into a new company, it takes me at least six months before I could assist in the formulating of the budget. It takes time to get to know what is going on. When CR became the head honcho here, the budget was declared 2 weeks later…………This an example of no experience.

    I have written to CR in the past with an offer to help. No, he did not reply!

  44. Thanks Mark Good luck with what you doing and saying. We need a much stronger opposition to the ANC whom voters are keeping in power. Can we challenge all these silly small parties who dont seem to be a united front and therefore have no strength and cant possibly make an impact for change. Whoever put Jacob Zuma into power should also be accountable The gov are handling corrupt officials and former ones with soft gloves.
    God bless Africa, guide her leaders, guard her people and bring her peace.
    A tax boycott is needed we’ll pay the same money directly to NGO’s who can be trusted to deliver to the poor and will send the proof of these payments to SARS.

  45. Well done on taking a stand. We appreciate it. We all need to stand together. We protested in stellenbosch yestrrday. Peacefully unlike the daily destruction done buy other folk. Hopefully it will be noticed.

  46. Thanks Mark
    Eventually someone has taken a stand! I am 250 percent behind your campaign and I will share and follow

  47. I can’t be arsed anymore. I’m taking my family – and leaving. I am not going to beat myself up anymore worrying about the future of this country. Fuck em. Let em just fuck up whatever’s left – at least where I’ll go, my taxes will actually mean something.

  48. If this current regime was doing the job it was voted in to do, we would not be having this debate. Blaming the past has never solved anything ever.

  49. As A South African tax payer we Need You the To Do Something about the State of Affairs here. Keeping Quiet is not Cutting it, trying to stay in power for another 3 Years is not going to do it
    Getting Your Hands On The People’s Pension is WRONG
    Clean Up Your House
    Corruption, Justice System, Put People That can Pull this Country Up not Down

  50. Well said Mark.
    Now Mr President, are you afraid to do something about the crime, and corruption..Are you afraid that you wont get your peoples vote..Well suck it up..BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY FOR ALL THE ROBBERIES AND RAPES AND CORRUPTION in the country..You ban drink but it is mostly your people that cannot behave themselves when they drink and land up at the ER because they have slashed someone with a broken bottle or driven into a bridge..Start fining them when they are drunk and especially when they land up in hospitals because of their broken bodies..

  51. Mark, love what you have said especial about the government salaries. Private Co’s have closed and let people go ask a Private Company when last did you increase your employees salary! 2017, 2018 BUT hell government employee have gotten above average increases and still strike, because it is not what THEY have asked for. Does the government even know who is at work , who should be paid? How many government employees are been paid and should not be?

  52. Hi Mark,
    I agree with everything you have said whilst angry and now with such sincerity.
    I definitely support you and will be writing to Cyril Ramaphosa, our President, in the hope
    That he is the man we thought him to be when he was sworn in. Surely that was not a farce!
    Connie Johns

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