The High Court in Pretoria has formally withdrawn charges against three former employees of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) citing lack of successful prospects to prosecute. Former acting commissioner Ivan Pillay, Andries Janse van Rensburg and Johan van Loggerenberg were charged with various counts of corruption and were accused of setting up the so-called rogue unit at SARS in April 2018.
The case was reported in 2015 at the Brooklyn Police Station in Pretoria by former SARS commissioner, Tom Moyane. The High Court’s decision comes a week after NPA Head, Shamila Batohi, announced the withdrawal of the charges against the trio.
Their battle with the law allegedly started during the Scorpion days in 2007. It’s alleged that Pillay, Van Rensburg and Van Loggerenberg started the so-called SARS Rogue Unit to spy on prominent businessmen and politicians. At the time the unit was prosecuting former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi.
Their legal representative Bernard Hotz says justice has finally prevailed.
“We knew from the beginning that the case was not driven by the law but the wrong agendas. At long last, we were able to present our representations to the NDPP. When looked at the allegations that were leveled against my clients it was clear to everybody that just because somebody said so and they bought into this narrative did not mean that it was so.”
Hotz could not rule out the possibility of his clients pursuing a litigation case against the state and any other individual parties who might have played a malicious role in tarnishing their image.
The NPA says the matter is now considered closed. This despite the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF’s) intention to take the matter on review
“Remember that this decision has been made at the apex office of the NPA. So we, therefore, regard this matter as finally laid to rest,” says NPA spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane.
The trio first appeared in court in April 2018. The NPA says there were many reasons why the matter took so long to get to conclusion.
Mjonondwane elaborates: “Remember that soon after their first court appearance in April 2018 they brought applications for the matter to be struck off the roll which was dismissed. Later on, they applied for further particulars. So there were a lot of applications brought before we could set a trial date.”
In a statement last week, the NPA said it withdrew the charges following recommendations by a review panel which investigated whether there was a reasonable prospect to prosecute the matter successfully.
