Social Media

Tax, democracy, and the TikTok generation

In South Africa, the youth unemployment rate among those aged 15 to 24 sits at a staggering 60%. Yet, many young people are finding new opportunities through content creation on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook – particularly where content can be monetised. These platforms reward engagement, and young people are driving this space.

Recently, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced that it will impose stricter rules to ensure content creators also pay their taxes. At the Daily Maverick’s Gathering, supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, I had the chance to sit down with the SARS Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, and asked him why SARS has taken this step. His response was: “Tax does not discriminate against different revenue streams, it simply says if you have income, from any activity, that is typically defined as work, remuneration or salary, then it must be taxed.”

Kieswetter went further, emphasising the link between taxation and democracy itself: “We can’t have a democracy if we don’t pay tax, because it’s important and imperative for government to equalise our current unequal country.” He added that the recent move to tax content creators is not a new burden, but rather an adjustment to modern realities: “The social media economy did in previous years not exist, and now we have to catch up.”

He also underlined the redistributive role of taxes in a country as unequal as South Africa: “Very often tax is also a means of redistributing wealth from privileged and higher-income earners to cross the inequality divide in South Africa. A huge sum of money goes to social grants, and a lot of these grants are necessary because our economy is not growing, people are not finding jobs, so tax in a way helps to equalise the economic divide.”

Thirty years into democracy, South Africa remains deeply unequal. Kieswetter argued that taxes help to fund crucial social support such as SASSA grants for those in poverty and people living with disabilities. These grants, he noted, are essential lifelines in our society.

It is also worth noting that SARS itself has undergone a significant recovery. After years of institutional decline, the agency has been rebuilt under Kieswetter’s leadership. Today, SARS is reclaiming its role as a key institution in ensuring government has the resources to deliver on its social obligations. And now, even digital content creators – many of them young, are firmly part of the tax net.

His message to young people was: “Don’t be indifferent, be an activist. Fight for what you want. Vote for the government you can trust, demand the services our tax money should be going to. But as a responsible citizen, pay your fair share.”