Former South African Revenue Service (SARS) employee Vlok Symington has told the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture of a frightening experience where he was held hostage inside a boardroom by former SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane’s bodyguard and four members of the Hawks.
Symington says things took a turn for the worst when he refused to hand over a document with e-mail attachments and annexes.
He says they wanted to retrieve the document he had in exchange for another one and when he refused, they held him hostage.
“At that point, can you describe what happened? Did you still have the Pretorius letters? Did you still have possession of that?”
“Yes Chair, I did. Mr Titi was still on the phone with what we later learnt was Mr Moyane during the whole incident. So, I attempted to exit the door, but as I was exiting the room, there was the Hawks and (they) physically dragged me by the hand, took those documents off my hand and off they went.”
In 2018, Symington and the former SARS Commissioner’s bodyguard Thabo Titi reached a settlement agreement regarding the hostage case.
Symington told the commission that the incident which happened in 2016 also forced him to make a 10111 phone call to SAPS and call his secretary for help.
Commission of Inquiry into State Capture hears SARS related evidence:
