End of the road for Tom Moyane
NPO considers private prosecution
ANTI-CORRUPTION activists have threatened to launch a private prosecution of sacked SA Revenue Service (Sars) head Tom Moyane now that his plea to the country’s apex court has been rejected.
The Constitutional Court ruled yesterday Moyane’s application for leave to appeal his dismissal had no reasonable prospects of success. Corruption Watch said he should be held to account.
Moyane’s lawyer Eric Mabuza said yesterday his client had accepted the ruling and would now focus on cross-examining Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry.
“Mr Moyane genuinely believed the circumstances of this particular case were sufficiently exceptional. The court has respectfully held otherwise.”
Mabuza said Moyane accepts this marks the end of the road as far as the first of his application for interim relief pending the hearing of the main second part of the High Court application.
“It is important to keep in mind that the High Court judgment which he sought to appeal against dealt specifically with the Part A application. The legal team will soon be meeting with Mr Moyane before the end of the week to take instructions as to hopefully securing an expedited date in respect of the merits of the application for final relief.”
Mabuza said Moyane would also be concentrating on his application to cross-examine Gordhan at the Zondo Commission and which has been set down for hearing on March 13.
Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko said they welcomed the Constitutional Court (Concourt) decision.
“It brings to finality a matter that has been long and drawn out. Now there is an opportunity to rebuild Sars and to restore public confidence.”
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse’s (Outa) Wayne Duvenage said they welcomed the order and now hoped the new head of Sars could undo the damage that had been caused.
President Cyril Ramaphosa late last year accepted the recommendation of retired judge Robert Nugent, who heads the commission of inquiry into tax administration and governance at Sars, in his interim report that he fire Moyane.
Nugent, in his report, said Moyane had no intention of accounting for his conduct during his tenure. Moyane’s legal team filed the court papers for leave to appeal after the North Gauteng High Court on December 11 upheld his dismissal and ruled that a permanent Sars commissioner could be appointed.
In his appeal, Moyane was supported by former president Jacob Zuma. The former Sars commissioner has denied any wrongdoing and hails himself as the most successful Sars commissioner in the democratic history of the country.
Corruption Watch’s executive director David Lewis said they were “delighted” with the Concourt order although they expected it as Ramaphosa and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni have already commenced the search for a new head of Sars.
“They need to proceed with this post-haste. I don’t think Moyane’s accountability has been dealt with yet. We are certainly not happy for Moyane to ride off into the sunset. We are still pursuing the possibility of a private criminal prosecution for his role in protecting former Sars executive Jonas Makwakwa.”
Last year the Hawks finalised an investigation into the R1.2 million in suspicious and unusual transactions in Makwakwa’s account.
The transactions were identified in a Financial Intelligence Centre report that Moyane was aware of but allegedly failed to act on. The Hawks said the docket was handed to the NPA. Lewis said the NPA had said to the organisation that they were reconsidering charging Moyane and this had been before Shamila Batohi had been appointed to head up the prosecuting authority.