SARS ‘hostage’ faces new action
South African Revenue Service employee Vlok Symington has approached the High Court in Pretoria for a declaratory order and an urgent interdict against a pending disciplinary action by his employer.
In his founding affidavit to the court filed on Thursday, Symington said he believed he had inadvertently found himself “at the centre of the political storm” surrounding former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, and the broader issues of state capture.
On Wednesday, news leaked that the Hawks were planning to continue investigating the socalled SARS rogue unit.
Symington of the SARS legal and policy division provided a legal opinion in March 2009 on whether the revenue service was permitted to pay out former commissioner Ivan Pillay and rehire him on a contract basis — the basis of botched charges against Gordhan last year.
In this legal opinion, he gave Gordhan the go-ahead to pay Pillay out.
Gordhan was initially charged with fraud by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for allowing the payout. However, the charges were withdrawn shortly afterwards.
In November last year, audio and video recordings were leaked of Symington allegedly being held against his will in a boardroom by Hawks staff and SARS commissioner Tom Moyane’s bodyguard.
They were trying to retrieve a printout of the e-mail in which a SARS lawyer said he could not be involved in the matter against Gordhan for ethical reasons.
The e-mail was erroneously sent to Symington — reportedly by Moyane. This supported speculation that the charges against Gordhan were politically motivated and an attempt to capture the Treasury.
Now Symington is facing disciplinary action based on the “hostage” situation.
In his founding affidavit, Symington stated that the basis of the court application was that he had made several disclosures that qualified as protected disclosures.
Symington had made statements to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate and the NPA regarding the incidents involving the Hawks and Moyane’s bodyguard.
“As a result of having made these disclosures, I now face a disciplinary hearing and probable dismissal from my employment at SARS.
“I am advised that I qualify for protection from such actions, which all amount to ‘occupational detriment’, in terms of the PDA [Protected Disclosures Act],” he said.
Symington said in his affidavit that he had received an electronic diary invitation on Tuesday to attend a meeting with the subject line “notice of disciplinary hearing”.
At the meeting, he was handed a document with the same title and was notified that he faced charges of misconduct.
The meeting was attended by SARS chief legal officer Refiloe Mokoena, Symington’s direct superior, and Million Mbatha of human resources.
Symington said that during the meeting, Mokoena told him the instruction to charge him came “directly from Moyane himself”.
“I firmly believe that the reason for SARS seeking to find a basis to charge me with misconduct, is directly linked to the protected disclosures that I have made,” he said.
“Given my seniority within the organisation and the broader political ramifications, I strongly suspect the effort to get rid of me must be sanctioned at the highest levels of the organisation.”
Symington said that he had also been advised by his lawyers to submit an unfair labour practice case to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
The matter had been set down for conciliation, but the revenue service was intent on proceeding with the disciplinary process, he said.