Making it affordable for low earners

SMALL foreign-owned shops operating in NCD cheat on their taxes.
They pay their employees well below the minimum wage and they pay most of them in cash.
Most of their products sold are well after their expiration date. They do not open any new stocks until the old ones are sold. However, I do not blame them.
They came here to make money and they’re prepared to do anything for it.
Sitting on those towering chairs of theirs, day in day out, watching their cashiers like hawks.
Skirting around the fringes of our laws, testing for any weaknesses and exploiting it.
I give credit where credit is due. They mean business.
They’re only doing these things because they can get away with it. Our Government agencies are too lax on the issue.
Our cops see the shop owner waving K20 and, suddenly, they are best friends; the cop is ready to boot out any disgruntled customer.
These circumstances have made it possible for these businesses to sell their goods and services at a much lower price compared to their competitors.
This, in turn, has made it possible for most of the city’s denizens to survive.
Most families living in the city are surviving on an ever-decreasing paycheck due to the Government’s aggressive tax regime.
In order for them to buy groceries and have some money left over to pay their bills and other expenses, they have to visit these shops.
If the relevant authorities were to bring the wrath of justice down on these shops all throughout the city, I don’t think the average family living here will make it.
But, if the relevant authorities don’t do anything, the country will continue to have cash-flow problems because, as I have mentioned, these foreign-owned shops don’t bank their money; they keep them hidden under their mattresses and such.
This, coupled with other related issues, will cause the Government to continue to get more loans and increase taxes to pay off those loans. This is a Catch-22 situation.
I am just pointing it out for everyone. I hope some genius out there is able to solve this without severely affecting the people or the State.

Phil Kaizerman
PoM