Sars boss Moyane lashes out at Gordhan

SOUTH African Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane hit back at suggestions by Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan that the R30 billion tax proposals to fill the revenue gap could be blamed on Sars’s poor performance.

“In fact, such utterances by a person as senior as the minister of finance, poses serious challenges to the overall credibility – and hence effectiveness of Sars as an institution,” Moyane said.

He was speaking during a media briefing to discuss Gordhan’s Budget speech at the Sars offices in Brooklyn, Pretoria, where he also addressed the strained relationship between the two men, which, said DA finance spokesman David Maynier, had “gone nuclear”.

Moyane said in the latest incident between himself and Gordhan, the minister refused to shake his hand. He said he’d pleaded with President Jacob Zuma to intervene.

“My request to the president is that he must intervene or bring an independent judge so we can bring sanity to the two institutions,” Moyane said.

He said Gordhan, during meetings, had screamed and shouted at him and treated him like a “non-entity”. He said he’d raised these problems in letters with Gordhan and wanted to sit down and sort out their problems.

It is said Moyane was the one who opened a case against Gordhan last year in relation to a “rogue unit” which allegedly operated when Gordhan was still the SARS commissioner.

“I did not open a case against minister Gordhan… I never mentioned the minister’s name, you can ask the Hawks and you can ask the police,” Moyane said. He said he was accused by Gordhan during a meeting that he was serving a particular family, although Moyane refused to mention names. It is believed to be the Guptas. The commissioner denied that Sars had a leadership crisis. He said Gordhan said during his speech on Wednesday that Sars needed to bring in R1.1 trillion. “That is a big task, but I believe I have a team that is capable of doing this,” said Moyane.

Maynier said: “President Jacob Zuma claimed nearly a year ago to have acted and put measures in place to deal with what he called the ‘difficulty in the relationship’ between Gordhan and Moyane.

“However, today’s extraordinary fight-back… is clear evidence that… the ‘dirty war’ of leaks and counter-leaks has now gone nuclear at Sars. Zuma has to act to restore the integrity of Sars… we will submit a parliamentary question probing what action… will be taken,” said Maynier.

THE acrimonious relationship between Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane is undermining trust in the tax department.

When Gordhan was head of Sars, the institution was widely respected as one of the bestrun government departments.

In his Budget Speech, he expressed concern about a decline in tax revenue and the running of Sars, with revenue lagging behind the economy, leading to a R30 billion shortfall.

Sars had to be efficient, trusted and credible, he said. In a later briefing, Gordhan said he and deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, had four meetings with Sars management in recent weeks to find out what was wrong.

This was followed by the leaking to the Mail & Guardian of 16 confidential letters that expose how bad the relationship is between the two men. Apparently, Moyane has asked President Jacob Zuma for help.

The letters also reveal Gordhan warning Moyane that signing and paying out his own salary increase and performance bonus was “unethical, immoral and illegal”. Moyane accused Gordhan of trying to usurp his powers and interfering in Sars.

After the leaking of the letters yesterday, Moyane defended Sars’s performance. He said Gordhan shouts at him, refuses to shake his hand, and treats him as a non-entity. This is hardly surprising, as the head of Sars opened a case with the Hawks over a “rogue unit” that operated at Sars when Gordhan was the boss. The Hawks laid charges against Gordhan but these were later dropped.

Clearly Moyane is floundering, and the best intervention Zuma can make is to instruct him to defer to Gordhan.

If he is unwilling to do so, he should be replaced by a competent apolitical professional who can work with the Finance Minister for the benefit of the country.