Moyane: I am not the devil incarnate
Suspended Sars boss lashes ‘biased and unfair’ Nugent Ultimatum issued to Ramaphosa
Suspended SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane attacked the judge heading a commission of inquiry into the tax agency during his reign as irrational and biased, saying murderers and serial rapists would get better treatment.
Moyane has described himself as the best Sars commissioner in the democratic era and has rejected accusations that his mismanagement at the tax agency was partly responsible for revenue shortfalls that contributed to the country being hit with a VAT increase this year. He told President Cyril Ramaphosa that retired judge Robert Nugent was irrational and unfair in his recommendation that he be fired immediately.
In a letter sent to the president last week, Moyane’s lawyers threatened to take further action if Ramaphosa does not indicate by November 9 that he will ignore Nugent’s recommendations. Nugent was seeking the permanent appointment of the current acting commissioner, Mark Kingon, and the lawyers said he was “hell-bent” on portraying Kingon as an “angel juxtaposed with ... Mr Moyane as the devil incarnate”.
Ramaphosa replaced Jacob Zuma as president in February and immediately pledged a clean-up of key state institutions mired in allegations of corruption and state capture during his predecessor’s reign.
Moyane has refused to go quietly, launching a Constitutional Court bid to stop both the Nugent commission and a separate inquiry into his suitability to hold office.
Responsible for collecting the revenue the government uses to fund everything from health care to defence, Sars is one of the key institutions of state and the management upheaval has harmed its ability to do its job.
Moyane’s lawyers have argued that Nugent’s decision to praise Kingon for taking “admirable steps to correct immediate concerns” showed the judge’s bias. “In the relevant factual and historical context, such behaviour can only be described as deplorable and backward,” they said.
They also criticised the judge
for making findings against Moyane without hearing his side of the story and giving him “the right to confront his accusers, which is given even to the most vile mass murderers, serial rapists, etc”.
Earlier this month, Nugent filed a notice of opposition to Moyane’s bid to challenge the fairness of his inquiry. Ramaphosa and public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan are also opposing Moyane’s 700page application.
Ramaphosa has until Friday to file his response to that case, in which Moyane is arguing for the president to be found to have violated the constitution and his oath of office. While the court has yet to determine whether to hear Moyane’s argument, Nugent has recommended to Ramaphosa that he be dismissed and replaced with a new permanent commissioner.
Moyane argues that this recommendation is unlawful as the terms of reference “do not include employment issues of individuals and specifically exclude the employment or dismissal of Commissioner Moyane, which the President consciously delegated to the Disciplinary Inquiry chaired by Advocate Azhar Bham”.
After his suspension, Moyane was later charged over his alleged mishandling of a report on the conduct of his former second-in-command, Jonas Makwakwa, and for misleading parliament over that investigation. He is also accused of giving unauthorised bonus payments to staff and instructing an employee to feign illness in order to avoid co-operating with investigators into the so-called “rogue unit”.
The resolution of those charges, which was to be decided on by Bham, has been put on hold pending the Constitutional Court case.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, told Business Day the president had received Moyane’s submissions and was applying his mind to them.