Former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says SARS was able to meet its revenue targets and reduce the tax gap during his tenure.
He was speaking during the inquiry into governance and tax administration at SARS which was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The inquiry is trying to establish, among other things, the reasons behind the revenue shortfall of R48.2 billion and what led to the exodus of executives at SARS.
On Tuesday Pravin Gordhan took to the stand.
Gordhan says during his tenure at SARS, there were effective management tools that enabled it to meet set revenue target, and that the tax agency managed to convince tax payers to comply with their tax obligations.
He attributed the current revenue shortfall to mismanagement and inefficiencies at SARS.
Gorhdan says he was able to transform the executive committee at SARS which was previously Lilly White and this helped to boost the morale at SARS.
Now morale is at an all-time low with a number of senior executives having left the organisation during the tenure of suspended SARS commissioner Tom Moyane.
Gordhan says he managed to retain skilled personnel and not push them out.
Gordhan also added that they were able to introduce the Efilling system which enables more tax payers to comply.
He also said that they approached countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand to get an understanding of how to run an efficient tax system.
Click video below:
