CAPE TOWN – Axed commissioner of the South African Revenue Service Tom Moyane has taken his fight for his job to court as he has reportedly filed an urgent application to review and set aside his dismissal by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This after Moyane’s lawyers wrote to President Ramaphosa demanding that he reverse his decision to fire Moyane following recommendations from an inquiry led by retired Judge Robert Nugent.
“For these and countless other grounds of unlawfulness, we are instructed to demand, as we hereby do, that you withdraw your letter of termination dated 1 November 2018, restore the status quo which obtained before the service thereof (i.e. that our client is suspended with pay pending outcome of the disciplinary inquiry,” read the letter, dated November 5 in part.
“Upon your failure to do so on or before 12h00 Friday 9 November 2018, we hold firm instructions to institute urgent court proceedings without any further notice to you, to seek orders inter alia declaring your aforementioned conduct to be irrational, unlawful, and invalid and also interdicting, you pending the outcome of the Constitutional Court, from purporting to receive, accept and/or implement any 'recommendations' of the Sars commission…”
The Nugent Commission of Inquiry into Tax Administration and Governance by Sars, when recommending that Moyane be fired, said in its interim report, that a new Commissioner was needed without delay by Sars, which is not possible with Moyane in office, and that state of affairs now needed to be brought to an end.