DA says SARS is using legal action to intimidate Jacques Pauw
The party’s deputy finance spokesman, Alf Lees, says the court action against the author of The President’s Keepers is without merit and a case of ‘executing the messenger’
The DA has accused the commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) of engaging in intimidatory tactics by launching legal action against the author of The President’s Keepers. Commissioner Tom Moyane is seeking a declaratory order that author Jacques Pauw contravened the Tax Administration Act by publishing details of the tax affairs of President Jacob Zuma in his book. The application is expected to be heard early next year. DA deputy finance spokesman Alf Lees said the court action was without merit. “Moyane is once again trying to execute the messenger instead of dealing with the substance of the revelations contained in The President’s Keepers,” he said. The old tactic of hiding behind taxpayer confidentiality had been replaced, Lees said, by one of intimidation to silence embarrassing revelations. “The SARS court application, under the hand of Tom Moyane, is clearly intended to intimidate any other South Africans from exposing matters of public interest,” Lees said...
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