Under Tom Moyane’s watch, SARS’s capacity to investigate was neutered, Gene Ravele says
The restructuring at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) had culled its enforcement capacity, the commission of inquiry chaired by retired judge Robert Nugent heard on Thursday.Former chief officer for enforcement Gene Ravele told the inquiry that the tax agency’s capacity to conduct criminal investigations and prosecutions had been neutered since the restructuring under suspended commissioner Tom Moyane’s watch."The operational review was about dismantling enforcement," he said.On Wednesday, the commission heard how the critical large business centre was dismantled during the restructuring conducted between 2014 and 2016.Ravele said he was aware that an instruction was issued for SARS to halt all inspections on cigarette companies — an instruction allegedly issued by former SARS second-in-command Jonas Makwakwa."The amount of revenue SARS collects from excise is dropping … if you are going to stop inspections, people are going to do as they wish," he said.Ravele was at the hel...
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