Makwakwa case hots up
ROB ROSE: The great Sars fraud
Just 0.1% of the population pays 30% of SA’s tax, so faith in the SA Revenue Service’s integrity is vital. But reasons to doubt that integrity keep emerging
Say what you like about SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane, but the man knows how to tailor an investigation to get exactly the result he wants. As reported in this column two weeks ago, Moyane evidently wanted his suspended deputy Jonas Makwakwa back in the saddle — despite the rather awkward evidence of R1.3m in "suspicious and unusual cash deposits" sluicing through his bank account. So it was no surprise when Sars this month said Makwakwa had been "cleared" in a "disciplinary hearing" and would return posthaste. (When asked for a transcript of the hearing, Sars fiercely ignored us.) But then — wouldn’t you know it — it emerged last week that the law firm tasked with drawing up Makwakwa’s charges, Sandton-based Hogan Lovells, hadn’t included even a smidgeon of evidence about those "suspicious transactions" in the charges.Hogan Lovells says it "did not seek to directly investigate the financial transactions", as it was limited to "identifying whether any misconduct ...
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