JOHANNESBURG - The North Gauteng High Court has granted an order to give effect to a settlement agreement between the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and senior official, Vlok Symington.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sars said "the parties agreed, in good faith," to bring all legal and other related proceedings against each other, including disciplinary charges against Symington and a bodyguard named as Thabo Titi, to an end.
The court granted the order to effect the agreement on Friday.
Apparently, the abandoned legal actions arose from an incident that took place at the premises of SARS on 18 October 2016 in which Symington alleges he was held against his will by members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and Titi‚ as they allegedly attempted to take back documents sent to Symington in error.
"The events leading up to the incident, the incident itself and the disciplinary charges that arose from the incident against Mr Symington and Mr Titi have been reviewed by SARS and both parties have agreed that it would be in the best interest of all that these matters be settled," said the statement.
In granting the order, Justice Louw said he welcomed the fact that the parties have reached an amicable resolution without the need for further litigation.
"All parties are now looking forward to continue working towards fulfilling the mandate of SARS and restoring public trust and credibility to this important fiscal institution," said the statement.
Symington, a senior employee in the legal department at SARS, made headlines when he claimed he was held "hostage" in a boardroom at the revenue collection offices.