Judge Robert Nugent has called suspended SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane’s submission to the Inquiry a disgrace littered with abusive and sinister suggestions.
Nugent rejected all reliefs sought by Moyane and says the Inquiry into tax governance and administration at SARS will continue sometime in August. Moyane’s legal representative Advocate Dali Mpofu had called for the suspension of the inquiry citing bias and unfairness to his client.
“The document is a disgrace, and is littered with abuse, invective and sinister suggestions. The commission has no power in law to dissolve itself. It also has no power to discontinue its inquiries. It has been instructed by law to make the inquiries listed in its terms of reference and that is what it must continue to do. Mr Moyane was well aware that oral evidence was to be heard. There is no request in the letter from his lawyer for the opportunity to ‘rebut’ the evidence,” says Nugent.
He says Moyane did not even bother to attend the hearings but chose to watch them on TV. He refused to grant Moyane any of the rulings and reliefs he sought.
The Nugent Inquiry was established by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate matters that include handling of revenue shortfalls, the unauthorised payment of bonuses to top executives and the withholding of refunds to ordinary taxpayers.
Several former executives, who have testified before the commission, have accused Moyane of instilling a culture of fear when he took over the reins at SARS in September 2014.
Read the full ruling below:
