• Government is finding the provision of affordable housing to the people challenging. So, Trevor, incentivise developers to house more people by removing the Vat on new dwellings priced below R500k. That’s an immediate saving of 14% for homeowners in this category. Any other incentives would also greatly help in achieving affordability for this target market. 
• Remove all transfer duties for homes under R800k. This will give the residential market a confidence boost and provide easier access to homes for first time homeowners. The average house price in East London is over R800k.
• Give every private tax payer a rebate of R1,500 and every business a rebate of R10,000 to make up for the losses caused by Eskom. (I would also sell a 49% stake in Eskom to private enterprise and appoint a new board.)
• Increase infrastructure spending at a local level. Our municipalities need new roads, sewer systems, electrical infrastructure and most importantly, need to retain skills. Increase the remuneration budgets at local government level so that we can retain engineers, planners and accountants. This is one of the most critical problems facing Buffalo City. A recent report showed that Eskom lost 30,000 people in the last few years. We can’t follow this example.
• Give further tax relief in the face of increasingly higher private medical costs and a deteriorating public healthcare system.
• Reduce the tax on petrol. I am confident that the extra cars on the roads would more than cover the drop in revenue.

Grant Wheatley