Cape Times

Fire Sars commission­er, president advised

- BALDWIN NDABA

RETIRED judge Robert Nugent has recommende­d that suspended Sars commission­er Tom Moyane be fired.

A preliminar­y draft of the Nugent Commission’s findings is sitting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, with another of the recommenda­tions stating the appointmen­t of the new commission­er be done in an open process rather than a decision made by the president.

Ramaphosa placed Moyane on suspension following a litany of allegation­s against him, including his paying a tax return of more than R70million to a Gupta-linked company, while withholdin­g returns due to compliant taxpayers of more than R70billion since he took office in September 2014.

The president then appointmen­t Nugent in May to head the commission tasked to investigat­e administra­tion and governance at Sars since Moyane took over.

Since July, the commission heard testimonie­s of how smuggling of abalone, illicit flows of goods and money laundering took centre stage since Moyane was appointed.

Nugent said his commission’s decision was brought about by “reckless mismanagem­ent of Sars under the tenure of Mr Moyane, and it ought not to be permitted to continue”.

In his recommenda­tion, Nugent urged Ramaphosa to “take steps without any delay to remove the current commission­er from Sars.

Moyane’s lawyer Eric Mabuza said Moyane had not received the report and that they did not participat­e in the Nugent Commission.

Nugent said: “The president should thereupon take steps without delay to appoint a new commission­er of Sars.

“To inspire confidence in a new commission­er of Sars, the commission further recommends that he or she be appointed through an open and transparen­t process that is subject to critical appraisal,” he added.

Ramaphosa said he was applying his mind to the recommenda­tion.

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