Moyane needs to face the facts

Suspended SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane’s back is to the wall. And he’s come out throwing punches. It has not been a good past few weeks for Moyane, culminating in him going on the attack when he filed papers in the Constitutional Court on Monday, arguing the Sars judicial inquiry must be halted, his pending disciplinary suspended and for a declaration President Cyril Ramaphosa breached his oath of office.

According to Moyane, Ramaphosa’s appointments, decisions and conduct around the Sars inquiry were in violation of the constitution, making them unlawful and invalid.

Earlier in the week, it was revealed Moyane and Sars had withdrawn civil proceedings against former spokesperson Adrian Lackay. In May 2015, Lackay was served with a combined summons in which Sars and Moyane claimed R12 million in damages from him for “defamation”.

The parties have now indicated that they will pay legal costs incurred.

This week, Moyane also took aim at Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, whose name is mentioned 88 times in the affidavit. Moyane doesn’t hold back, insisting Gordhan was “jealous of his success”, hence the tension between the two.

“It would seem that one of Gordhan’s life missions was to take off from where he had left off in March 2017, and to get rid of me, by hook or by crook, and harassing me away from occupying the position of Sars commissioner,” said Moyane.

Under Moyane, the receiver of revenue’s shortfall in 2017-18 was R48 billion. The previous year it was R30.7 billion.

Yet Moyane claims it is all a conspiracy against him and he is the most successful leader of Sars since 1994 by virtue of being the first, and only, commissioner to have surpassed R1 trillion in revenue collection. However, many observers believe this would have happened, regardless of who was in charge.

It’s time to face reality, Mr Moyane.