SARS’s Moyane is ‘rogue unit’ witness
• Suspended tax boss central to case against SARS trio charged over alleged bugging of NPA offices in 2007
Embattled South African Revenue Service commissioner Tom Moyane and his disgraced second-in-command, Jonas Makwakwa, are the first and second witnesses respectively in the case against former executives Ivan Pillay, Johann van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg. Former finance minister Trevor Manuel is also cited among the witnesses, along with former National Prosecuting Authority officials Vusi Pikoli, Gerrie Nel and Andrew Leask. This is according to the indictment served on the three on Monday.
Embattled South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Tom Moyane and his disgraced second-in-command, Jonas Makwakwa, are the first and second witnesses respectively in the case against former executives Ivan Pillay, Johann van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg.
Former finance minister Trevor Manuel is also cited among the witnesses, as are former National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) officials Vusi Pikoli, Gerrie Nel and Andrew Leask. This is according to the indictment served on the three on Monday.
They appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges related to the alleged bugging of the NPA offices in 2007.
The matter was postponed to June as the NPA has permitted the trio to make representations by the end of April.
It has been alleged that the charges against the three, particularly Pillay, are politically motivated to ensure he does not return to SARS now that Moyane has been suspended.
President Cyril Ramaphosa suspended Moyane in March over his handling of the disciplinary case against Makwakwa and his alleged personal involvement in the value-added tax refund to the controversial Gupta family. Moyane had allegedly shielded Makwakwa and subjected him to what was said to be a sham disciplinary process after the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) found suspicious and unusual transactions into the bank accounts of the latter and his partner, also a SARS employee, to the tune of R1.2m.
Makwakwa resigned on the cusp of his second suspension in as many years, after it became clear following the FIC report that a company hired by SARS as a debt collector also appeared to channel funds into his personal bank account.
The controversial pair are now the state’s witnesses.
Pillay was general manager of the enforcement and risk division of SARS at the time of the alleged bugging.
Van Loggerenberg was a special officer in the same division. Van Rensburg was a line manager in the SARS special projects unit, which was also dubbed the “rogue” or “covert unit” by now largely discredited newspaper and forensic reports.
The star witness in the indictment is SARS employee Helgard Lombard, who has provided an affidavit set to be used as evidence, indicating that he had bugged the offices of the NPA and was authorised to do so.
The charges the three face include contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act and the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act.
They have denied the allegations against them, arguing in part that they were driven by Moyane, who had a hidden agenda, according to a detailed letter to the NPA in which they requested the opportunity to make representations.
The NPA argues that Pillay and Van Rensburg did not obtain authorisation for the surveillance as required by the Rica Act. The allegations about the alleged bugging of the NPA offices first surfaced in a KPMG report commissioned by SARS under Moyane. Parts of the report have since been withdrawn by the audit firm.
KPMG also refunded SARS the R23m the tax agency paid it for the report.
The matter is set to return to court on June 18.