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NPA drops charges against former SARS employees

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The National Director of Public Prosecutions has confirmed its decision to drop all charges against former SARS employees Ivan Pillay, Johan van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg.

These were the members of the so-called SARS rogue unit which was allegedly set up to spy on taxpayers. NPA head, Shamila Batohi, announced that the charges had been withdrawn against the three because of insufficient evidence.

Media statement on the NDPP’s decision to drop the charges below:

 

Bernard Hotz, the lawyer of the three former SARS staff, says his clients have finally been vindicated.

“I’m representing Ivan Pillay, Johan van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg and yes it has been a long battle. We received the news this afternoon and my clients who I notified are obviously very relieved. Let us be clear the terminology rogue unit, it was being used for mischievous purposes and my clients were, to put it simply, the victims of state capture.”

Watch NPA spokesperson Bulelwa Makeke commenting on the dropping of the charges.

In October last year, the case against three senior former SARS officials was postponed in the High Court in Pretoria to February 17 this year.

The matter was postponed to give the NPA an opportunity to study more than four thousand pages of representations the men made.

 

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