Court suspends taxman’s contract with collection agency
SARS went to court after it came to light that Lekgotla Trifecta Collections had failed to declare a potential conflict of interest
The High Court in Pretoria has ordered the suspension of a controversial contract between the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and Lekgotla Trifecta Collections (LTC), which won a bid to collect billions in taxpayer debt. SARS announced last month that it had approached the court seeking an immediate termination of the contract. This followed LTC’s failure to declare a potential conflict of interest between its director, Nhlamulo Ndhlela, and SARS commissioner Tom Moyane. Ndhlela is Moyane’s nephew. The Mail and Guardian reported in July that Ndhlela was granted the debt collection contract, with a fee estimated at 10%, or up to R220m. At the time, SARS said Moyane was not aware that his nephew was a shareholder in LTC. In its urgent application, SARS said it sought to interdict LTC from performing any services under the Master Service Agreement and Service Request Agreement entered into between the two. The application was heard on Wednesday. The court ordered that from Novembe...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.