Upon visiting our IT suppliers I noticed how nearly impossible it is to keep up with “some” of the resellers running around lately. Just by adding VAT, the price is already too high to compare. Not to mention quality… The GPU’s available in South Africa is pathetic low quality watered down pieces of tech and it is starting to tick me off because our importers are importing these inferior parts and sell them for the same price as what an original up-to-speck card would cost.

Then there is the question of fair-trade, wholesalers/importers selling directly to the public at import prices basically killed off t a few industries, IT being the biggest falling industry at the moment and my question is how?

Flooding the market with BS quality tech is one thing but it seems that the world is ok with this because the customer thinks she/he is benefiting but fact is they are not. Quality goods will always last longer perform better have proper technical backing. But this doesn’t stop the customer from buying cheep parts because the pretender looks good on paper. This maybe be one of the reasons but the truth is the problem is not with the customer, it is with the importer/wholesaler getting really greedy…

So what about fair market trade? Is it just an ideal? From the looks of things lately it is no longer applicable. Yes the consumer rights acts are hitting companies but the companies have no recourse or protection when a supplier sells directly to the public.

So what can companies do? It has been suggested to register a legal complaint but the custodians are excessively passive to stabilise fair trade again, thus it seems that as long as VAT is paid the government couldn’t care less for fair market and healthy industry.

Thus why must businesses still play by the rules? Why pay VAT if they are not protected anymore? Why pay VAT if there is no benefit? Why register a company? Yes we have many laws that is strictly driven by VAT intake and yet again there pure lack of interest resemble our TV license you are force to pay it but you don’t GET anything for it!

That said I do think that Government is the problem, every person is almost a business or registered as one not because they want too but because they have too. Thus where does it leave the small business owner?

If everyone is a business then everyone is basically trading trough government via VAT number and company registration in order to live THUS and think about this, Government is the only true beneficiary.