Robert Nugent portrayed Tom Moyane as ‘devil incarnate’

Suspended SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane has dismissed the recommendation by judge Robert Nugent that he be fired “in the interest of Sars and the country” as irrational, unfair, unreasonable and “tainted by bias”.

In a letter sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa last week, Moyane’s lawyers have claimed Nugent’s recommendations that Ramaphosa axe Moyane “constitute a thinly veiled attempt to campaign for the permanent appointment of Mr Mark Kingon, who is the acting commissioner of Sars”.

According to Moyane’s lawyers, “it is clear that Mr Nugent is hellbent on portraying Mr Mark Kingon … as an angel juxtaposed with the portrayal of Mr Moyane as the devil incarnate”.

They have given Ramaphosa until November 9 to indicate that he will not act on Nugent’s recommendations, or face court action.

Quoting from Nugent’s interim report to Ramaphosa, Moyane’s lawyers, Mabuza Attorneys, have accused the judge of being biased because he praised Kingon for taking “admirable steps to correct immediate concerns” at Sars and said he needed to be spared from burdensome uncertainty “of his acting status”.

“At the same time [the report claims] Mr Moyane ‘remains in the shadows’, is ‘intent on derailing the commission’, his employment was a ‘calamity’, which brought ‘tragic consequences’ to all and sundry,” Moyane’s lawyers argue.

“In the relevant factual and historical context, such behaviour can only be described as deplorable and backward”.