Durban - Civil society group Tax Justice SA (TJSA) said on Wednesday it welcomed, with caution, the promise made by finance minister Tito Mboweni during his budget speech to crack down on illicit and criminal economic activities.
“All decent law-abiding South Africans will have been reassured to hear Mr Mboweni say there will be a renewed focus on illicit and criminal economic activity, as this is long overdue,” said TJSA founder Yusuf Abramjee.
“But let’s now see real action, with all law enforcement agencies working together to bring these tax criminals to justice. They have been getting rich for far too long by robbing SA of billions of rands in taxes every year, while ordinary citizens are deprived of the essential services they deserve.”
Abramjee said that reestablishing the institutional integrity of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and its mandate as a crime fighting agency would be key to recovering the tens of billions lost every year to illicit trade.
"While the agency is making great progress in this area, as seen by recent prosecutions, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot more work to do,” said Abramjee.
Tax Justice would be launching a campaign on Monday to combat the illicit economy, he said.