Johannesburg - Sars started investigating Julius Malema’s tax affairs late in 2009, according to court documents and other official correspondence.
This is contrary to his claims that the revenue collector had pursued him after he fell out with President Jacob Zuma.
However, questions remain about why it took Sars four years to act against Malema for unpaid taxes dating back to 2005.
Malema has repeatedly accused Sars of unethical conduct and “furthering a political agenda” against him, after the revenue service auctioned off his assets in a bid to recoup some of the R16 million he owes in tax.
The Economic Freedom Fighters leader had gone as far as dubbing Sars “a mere branch of ZANC (Zuma-ANC)” and accusing it of being used by an Indian cabal led by a “vindictive” Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Documents further show that Sars had as far back as December 2009 started pursuing Malema for his failure to register as a taxpayer, failure to disclose his assets and “consistently” failing to submit his tax returns. This was long before his once-cosy relationship with Zuma soured.
Zuma was sworn in as president in May 2009, while Malema - then the ANC Youth League president - was among his staunchest supporters.
Following Zuma’s inauguration, Malema had continued to make statements in defence of Zuma.
In October 2009, Zuma said the firebrand would one day become a good leader worthy of “inheriting the ANC”.
Zuma’s relationship with Malema took a turn for the worse around April 2010, when the youth leader said the president was worse than former president Thabo Mbeki.
It was such statements, and those calling for regime change in Botswana, that led to Malema’s eventual expulsion from the ANC in April last year.
Sars spokesman Adrian Lackay on Monday fell short of accusing Malema of acting like a chameleon. He said Malema was a “delinquent taxpayer” who continued to lie about his tax affairs.
Lackay reiterated Sars’s statements on the matter last month.
“In January 2010, Mr Malema claimed to be in possession of an ‘intelligence dossier’ which, in his view, proved Sars had a special unit focusing on him and other persons because of their association and support for President Zuma. It is ironic that Mr Malema is now claiming the exact opposite.”
He also denied Malema’s accusations that Sars never acted against him when he was still in the ANC.
Speaking to The Star from Nigeria on Monday, Malema again dismissed Sars’s actions as a politically motivated vendetta against him.
“Whatever they do is not genuine. Theirs is a process that seeks to impress the political master. Sequestration is in the hands of my lawyers. Check with them how far is the process,” Malema said.
Said Lackay: “Now, with Mr Zuma (his fraud, corruption and money-laundering case), the matter was dealt with through the legal system in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. This is why we continue to see uncontested allegations (from Malema). Really we are just trying to do our job.”
Sars filed its papers against Malema in the Pretoria High Court on January 29 this year. According to court papers, Malema owed Sars R16m and is insolvent.
The case is in relation to Malema’s much-publicised links to companies which had obtained lucrative contracts from the Limpopo provincial government.
The Star