Cape Town – The allegations against South African Revenue Service (Sars) second in command, chief business officer Jonas Makwakwa, are not new and the Democratic Alliance will continue pursuing the matter, the party said on Sunday.
“South African Revenue Service Commissioner Tom Moyane was reportedly handed a preliminary report alleging that the chief officer of business, individual taxes, and digital information systems Jonas Makwakwa received ‘suspicious and unusual payments’ in the amount of R1.2 million between 2010 and 2016,” DA spokesman David Maynier said.
“These allegations are not new and were raised with the South African Revenue Service Commissioner Tom Moyane during a [parliamentary] standing committee on finance meeting on 23 August 2016,” he said.
When questioned about the investigation, Moyane was evasive and simply stated that he would not “comment on current ongoing investigations”.
Surprisingly, all follow-up questions were referred to senior revenue service officials who were equally evasive and repeated the line that there would be “no comment on current investigations into individuals or companies”, Maynier said.
The burning questions in this case were: whether Tom Moyane acted on the recommendations of the preliminary report and requested an investigation into the allegations surrounding “suspicious and unusual payments”; and if an investigation was being conducted, why Makwakwa had not suspended pending the outcome of the investigation?
“I will, therefore, submit a parliamentary question to the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan probing whether the preliminary report on the ‘suspicious and unusual payments’ was received; whether the investigation recommended in the preliminary report is being conducted; and why if an investigation is being conducted, Jonas Makwakwa has not been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, from Sars,” Maynier said.
According to media reports on Sunday, Makwakwa faced investigation for “suspicious” and “unusual” cash payments into his bank account.
According to the Sunday Times, a preliminary report recommended an investigation to determine whether the payments were proceeds from crimes arising from corrupt activities or acts of money laundering.
The report alleged Makwakwa received unexplained cash deposits and bank transfers into his FNB account totaling R1.2 million between 2010 and January this year.
African News Agency