Two ex-SARS officials to see Hawks tomorrow

File picture: Ziphozonke Lushaba

File picture: Ziphozonke Lushaba

Published Aug 24, 2016

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Cape Town - Former deputy SARS commissioner Ivan Pillay and the revenue service's former head of strategy Johan van Loggerenberg will appear before the Hawks on Thursday.

This forms part of the politically-charged probe into the so-called rogue spy unit which also targets Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

"They have agreed to appear and it is expected they will be asked to provide warning statements and that specific questions will be put to them," a source close to Pillay and Van Loggerenberg said.

Gordhan, Pillay, Van Loggerenberg and two other former SARS employees were on Monday sent letters from the Hawks (the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) informing them that the investigation into the intelligence unit had been completed and that they should present themselves on Thursday to give their versions of events.

National Treasury has confirmed that the minister has received the letter and was seeking legal advice, but would not comment further.

The allegations that an illicit intelligence gathering unit was set up on his watch as SARS commissioner have returned to haunt Gordhan in an increasingly threatening manner since he was brought back to his old portfolio as finance minister late last year after the fiasco of Nhlanhla Nene's replacement, briefly, with Des van Rooyen.

Gordhan insists the unit was established lawfully.

African News Agency

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