Johannesburg - Former Sars boss Tom Moyane has vowed to challenge President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to fire him in the North Gauteng High Court after the Constitutional Court turned down his application.
On Monday, Moyane’s lawyer Eric Mabuza confirmed that his client would now wait for the court to set the matter down for argument.
Early this month, Moyane approached the Concourt asking for an interim order to set aside Ramaphosa's decision to fire him, pending their main application in the high court to declare proceedings at the Nugent Commission unlawful and unconstitutional.
The Concourt turned down the application. In its ruling, the court said it had considered Moyane’s answering affidavit and replying affidavit, and the affidavits of Mabuza and former president Jacob Zuma, and had decided to dismiss them “because grounds for the engagement of its exclusive jurisdiction have not been established”.
“Nor has the basis been laid for direct access in view of the fact that Moyane has other avenues available,” Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said.
Reacting to the pronouncement, Mabuza said “it (Concourt) ruling changes nothing”.
“We had initially applied to the high court to set aside the findings of the Nugent Commission, including the decision of the president to fire Mr Moyane. We subsequently went to the Constitutional Court to seek an interim order to set aside his dismissal.
“Now the Concourt has found that Moyane has other avenues to challenge the decision. The Concourt ruling does not change anything. We will continue to pursue the case in the high court,” Mabuza said.
The Nugent Commission - chaired by retired judge Robert Nugent - was tasked to probe governance and administration at the SA Revenue Service while Moyane was at the helm. It was established in May, and in September it recommended to Ramaphosa that Moyane should be fired.
In his ruling, Nugent told Ramaphosa that Moyane had refused to co-operate with the commission despite numerous requests to him.
“From inception Mr Moyane has remained in the shadows, emerging to attend public hearings for a few hours on one occasion only, and then only to disparage and attempt to derail the commission."
Nugent said Mabuza was notified each time public hearings were held, but neither Moyane nor any representative attended.
“His attorney has been pertinently asked on two occasions whether Mr Moyane wishes to respond to evidence that has been given in public, much of which has been damning, in which case he was invited to meet with counsel of the commission,” Nugent said. He said Moyane did not respond to their requests.