Moyane willing to testify in court on ‘rogue unit’
If subpoenaed, former Sars boss would give evidence on contentious matter, says lawyer
THE former commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (Sars), Tom Moyane, through his legal representative, said he is willing to testify in court if required to do so in order to prove the existence of the controversial Sars rogue unit.
Moyane’s lawyer, Eric Mabuza, said that should a court subpoena his long-term and high-profile client to enlighten it on the contentious matter, he can do so with ease as no one defies a court instruction.
“Of course he can testify if he is subpoenaed by the courts to do so. That is obvious as when subpoenaed you have to come to court and give evidence,” Mabuza said on behalf of his client when asked by Independent Media whether he can make the claims under oath.
But the lawyer could not answer questions of what Moyane thinks of the decision by public enterprises minister, Pravin Gordhan, to challenge the findings which includes the unit by Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane when considering the fact he (Moyane) insists that the unit existed.
The findings of Mkhwebane on the rogue unit matter will be challenged this morning by Gordhan in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Last week, the top Sars official, who was fired by President Cyril Ramaphosa in November last year, claimed that he is in fact the one who opened the criminal case against the unit obtaining a legal opinion. He said he got to know the matter through two former employees of Sars, who told his during a recorded meeting of the many illegal activities of the unit which included bugging the offices of the National Prosecuting Authority and the SAPS.
He said among the spying equipment the unit brought were surveillance cameras, audio recorders and cellphone jammers, which are used to disrupt communication between the phone and the cellphone network station effectively disabling mobile phones within the range of the jammer, preventing them from receiving signals and from transmitting them.
“I opened a case with the Brooklyn police station in May 2015 and the two employees also handed themselves over to the police and confessed. The two employees then turned state witnesses as per the criminal procedure act,” Moyane said in a statement he released via social media.
He added that the equipment, after agreeing with the Hawks, was kept safe in a room within Sars offices in Pretoria and raised concern that there was an attempt to tamper with them.
“However, I am disturbed by the continuous rumour that there is a relentless inclination or attempts to tamper with them, which will be tampering with evidence of a criminal case.”
However, Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha they were still looking at the alleged agreement yesterday and they would only be able to confirm or deny such arrangements by today (Tuesday).