Johannesburg - Suspended Sars Commissioner Tom Moyane has failed to convince President Cyril Ramaphosa that the State should foot the legal bill for his disciplinary inquiry.
Ramaphosa has also rejected Moyane's request to change the terms that will govern the inquiry. The President insists that the disciplinary inquiry would be the best place for Moyane to raise concerns.
The disgraced commissioner's lawyer, Eric Mabuza, wrote to Ramaphosa and requested that the inquiry should not be held in writing as this goes against the Sars Act which allowed for oral submissions.
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The President, in a letter, told Moyane that the Sars Act made no provisions for the State to pay for an employee’s disciplinary inquiry, Business Day reported.
The President’s spokesperson Khusela Diko confirmed that Ramaphosa had written to Moyane and rejected his requests.
It is likely that Moyane will take legal action as he has previously threatened to do so if Ramaphosa did not respond favourably to his requests.
Moyane, who is known as a close ally of former president Jacob Zuma, has been under pressure as he faced allegations for abusing processes at Sars to help the controversial Gupta family.
He also faced criticism for Sars’ poor revenue collection with a shortfall of R48 billion, and his failure to act of against allegations levelled against his former deputy Jonas Makwakwa.
Ramaphosa placed Moyane on suspension in March. In a meeting days before he was suspended, Ramaphosa had asked Moyane to resign and offered him a paid settlement - but he refused.
In placing him on suspension, Ramaphosa said it was in the best interest of Sars and protecting its integrity.
The suspended commissioner was then served with disciplinary charges and a notice that he will face a disciplinary inquiry into his conduct.
The charges that Moyane faces include; misconduct in violation of his duties and responsibilities in terms of the Sars Act, Finance Management Act and the Sars code of conduct.
The inquiry will be presided over by retired Constitutional Court Judge Kate O'Regan and will only be conducted in writing.
Ramaphosa said it was at O'Regan's discretion to allow for oral submissions.