Sars firm on Zuma’s tax records

● South African Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Edward Kieswetter, pictured below, says he won’t budge in his refusal to release former president Jacob Zuma’s tax records. This is despite a Constitutional Court ruling that blanket tax secrecy is unconstitutional.

The Financial Mail and investigative journalism organisation amaBhungane have been fighting for the release of Zuma's tax records since 2019. They have hailed the Constitutional Court’s May 2023 ruling as a victory for transparency and accountability, and have referred Sars’s refusal to the Information Regulator on appeal.

But Kieswetter is steadfast in his refusal to release the tax records.

“I don’t serve the interests of transparency and accountability by appeasing amaBhungane or political opponents of Zuma, I do it by remaining absolutely true to what the law requires me to do.”

In its bid for the release of Zuma’s tax records under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, amaBhungane argued that there was “serious and credible” evidence that Zuma was not tax compliant during his years as president.

“If amaBhungane has evidence — remember these people claim their evidence is a book written by Jacques Pauw, and as we know a book is not evidence — why don’t they take Jacques Pauw to court? That would be a far easier route to the evidence than Sars,” Kieswetter said.

“As Edward Kieswetter, who has an interest in fixing South Africa and dealing with crime and corruption, I would love to share what I see that comes across my desk. But that would be an abuse of my privileged access to records that no-one else has, and that’s why the law makes it so difficult for the commissioner to reveal information.”