Court postpones SARS bugging case

Representations to be made to NPA

Suspended SARS commissioner Tom Moyane and his disgraced second in command Jonas Makwakwa are the first and second witnesses in the case against former executives Ivan Pillay, Johann van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg.

This is according to the indictment that was served on the three yesterday. They appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges related to the alleged bugging of National Prosecuting Authority offices in 2007.

The matter was postponed to June as the trio have been permitted by the NPA to make representations on the matter by the end of this month.

It has been alleged that the charges against the three, particularly Pillay, were politically motivated to ensure that he does not return to the revenue service, now that Moyane has been suspended.

Moyane was suspended over his handling of the disciplinary case against Makwakwa as well as 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 alleged 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 R1.2million. Makwakwa resigned on the cusp of his second suspension in as many years, after it became clear that a company hired by SARS as a debt collector also appeared to channel funds into his personal bank account in the FIC report.

The star witness, however, according to 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 accused have denied the allegations against them.

The matter is set to return to court on June 18.