MATOBO Senator Sithembile Mlotshwa (MDC-T) caused stir among her colleagues in Victoria Falls over the weekend when she charged that the informal sector was not contributing significantly to the Aids Levy yet its members were the worst affected by the Aids pandemic. Report by Nqobile Bhebhe
Mlotshwa said the formal sector, which is taxed 3% per month in Aids Levy, was bearing the burden of assisting patients from the informal sector.
The Senator made the remark at the 2013 pre-budget seminar for parliamentarians in Victoria Falls on Friday.
“From the current scenario, only people in the formal sector are paying the 3 percent Aids levy and not those in the informal sector. “Their only contribution (informal sector) is on acquiring Aids, but they are benefiting from the Aids Levy. When is the informal sector going to be levied?” she asked.
Mlotshwa once stirred controversy when she suggested that people should have sex once a month and that men should be injected with drugs that reduce their libido to curb the spread of the Aids virus. She also called for prisoners to be given sex toys to quench their sexual needs.
The Aids levy was introduced in 1999 to cater for HIV and Aids services after government declared the disease a national disaster. The levy is 3%of income tax paid, so the maximum anyone is charged is around 1% of their gross salary.
