Game industry investments may displace agricultural production

Shoprite to sell furniture business to Pepkor

Nqobile Dludla

According to BDLive, the SA Revenue Service's (SARS's) 2012 statistics show that there are about 63000 individual taxpayers earning more than R1-million a year. That's one in 789 South Africans and about 16000 more than there were in 2008.

There are just over 2000 taxpayers who earn more than R5-million a year - about one in 25000 South Africans.

How much of SA's dwindling wealth from share-option benefits is being invested in the game industry, thereby displacing agricultural production? And how many farmworkers are now living in townships, rezoned by game farming operations, many resembling private tax-deductible zoos? Are the local authorities correctly rating game-farming activities or are they slipping through under the rating concessions granted to agriculture? People in rural South Africa cannot eat scenery, BDLive says.

Read the full article on www.bdlive.co.za.