DA says Sars needs new commissioner urgently as Moyane gets the chop

Published Nov 1, 2018

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CAPE TOWN – Fully restoring the reputation of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) in the eyes of the public will require the urgent appointment of a permanent commissioner of Sars. 

This is according to the Alf Lees MP, The DA shadow deputy minister of finance, who said the identification of a new Sars Commissioner must be completely transparent and must be based solely on merit.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s dismissal of embattled SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane was on Thursday confirmed by presidential spokesperson Khusile Diko in a brief telephone interview with Business Report.

This after Moyane had written to the president, asking him to reject a recommendation that he be fired, after Ramaphosa asked Moyane to officially provide reasons, by October 26, why he should not be fired.

Moyane had given the President until November 9 to respond to his letter.

In his responding letter the president indicated that the representations submitted by Moyane in response to the recommendations of the Nugent Commission failed entirely to deal with the substantive issues the report raises.

“The interim report makes clear that there is considerable evidence, which the Sars Commission gathered, indicating that in order to resolve the challenges at Sars, it would be best to terminate your services,” he said.

The Sars acting commissioner remains in place until such time as the vacancy of National Commissioner is filled.

"The DA expresses its thanks to Mark Kingon, the acting Sars Commissioner, for taking on the very difficult task of stopping the destruction at Sars and starting to fix the rot left by Tom Moyane. 

"We urge him to continue the valuable work he has embarked upon and therefore ensuring that the path towards restoring taxpayer trust in Sars is not deviated from," said Lees.

BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

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