That Black Tax
Hlengiwe is about to plunge headlong into one of South Africa’s touchiest social issues…
On Tuesday 12 June this year, ABSA bank reaped a whirlwind of angry complaints thanks to their Twitter poll, which read: #BlackTax is… a) a source of anxiety b) a source of pride c) a financial burden d) a responsibility. 44% voted it as a financial burden, while 34% saw it as a responsibility. And the fight between those percentage points had South African social media humming like an angry beehive – not just because of where the tweet came from. It’s a morally complex issue when the first members of a family who experience financial success are expected to uplift the rest of the family, who sacrificed so that they would be in a position to succeed. Even comedian Trevor Noah and talkshow supreme Oprah Winfrey got stuck into its complexities in her SuperSoul Sunday interview in April 2018. And it has raised a few eyebrows back at the Scandal! headquarters too.
TELLING THE TRUTH
The Scandal! team had already finalised scripts in April for their own Black Tax story that starts playing out in late July. Script producer Grace Mahlaba has been longing to tackle the topic for about five years, having read a feature about it in a magazine. “When I was reading the comments, I felt like, ‘Wow, we’ve touched a nerve!’ There are mixed messages about people, how they feel about it. I think it is an important story to tell. We didn’t want to dig into the past, as in apartheid, but without digging into that, you are not really telling the story. As the story unfolds you will see how we have tried to balance it out,” says Grace.
BUT DON’T CALL IT THAT
“It’s not an easy topic,” she admits. “I don’t call it Black Tax. I am a community person, so giving back is my duty and I don’t feel good if I don’t give. I grew up knowing that I have to uplift those who come behind me. But I detest it when people are forced to do it. I believe that when you come from a home where you feel a need, you will do something. There is no way you’d be walking around with R10 000 in your purse when your mom doesn’t have even a braai pack,” adds Grace.
THROUGH OTHER EYES
Heated opinions were exchanged in the
diverse Scandal! writers’ room during their brainstorming. “You have people who come from private schools, you have people from the townships. And you could tell that some people who were privileged didn’t want to get too involved because ‘everything was just so ridiculous. How can you expect that?’ The young girls in the office discussed it and some said, ‘My mom cannot expect me to look after her. She must have worked for herself.’ And you take them back and say, ‘Okay, fine. She was a domestic worker who didn’t spend money on herself. Every cent that she had, she used to take you to school. She is hoping that if you open the first door, your siblings will be able to do better. She is not thinking Black Tax. She is thinking, ‘If I empower one, one will empower the rest’. I’ve heard this a lot: ‘I will never die until my kids are successful and I know that they have never lived the life that I have lived’. It’s not for selfish reasons.”
DIFFERENT FAMILIES
“I am not saying I am pro Black Tax, but I tell someone, ‘If you are earning R50 000 a month, what is it to you to give your mother R5 000 a month? If you would rather drive a smaller car, rather not live in a lavish apartment just to be able to help your mother? They say, ‘No! I’m not going to deprive myself because of my mother’s mistakes,’ But which mistakes did you mother make? If you understand your history, this becomes a problem. So we were torn in the writers’ room. We also wanted the audience to be torn. We didn’t want them to be pro or not. We are individuals and we come from different families,” says Grace. “Personally, my kids know. I tell them every day, ‘You are going to look after me. Right now I am working and I am giving up for you. I am giving extra things. They laugh at me. But I say, ‘Tell your husbands. And if you don’t do it, just wait for the day that my will is going to be read, because I will take my money and give it to the SPCA. And that’s the end of the story.’” You think she’s joking?