I would like to dedicate this book firstly to my wife,
Nicole, and her family for standing by me and
believing in me no matter what. Secondly, to all
the former and current SARS officials and their
families who have been affected by these events.
Lastly, to all civil servants in our country who
continue to strive to make our country a better place.
JOHANN VAN LOGGERENBERG
For Mia Beulah and Ava Christina. In the face of
injustice, let your voices not lie silent.
ADRIAN LACKAY
Notes
AUTHORS NOTE
, accessed 1 August 2016.
, accessed 1 August 2016.
, accessed 1 August 2016.
, accessed 1 August 2016.
, accessed 1 August 2016.
Ibid.
CHAPTER 1
, accessed 25 July 2016.
Email from attorney who was approached by Niemann addressed to the author, dated 2014. Email states the attorneys willingness to testify to these facts. Email in authors possession.
, accessed 26 May 2016.
, accessed 26 May 2016.
It was confirmed by a source that 28 employees from Telkom Human Resources joined SARS reflected in an audit committee report dated December 2013.
, accessed 7 May 2016.
A source confirmed that in early 2015 Ravele was asked to confirm certain matters that were untrue. He wasnt prepared to do so.
, accessed 23 May 2016.
Ibid.
Ibid.
, accessed 23 May 2016.
Ibid.
Not his real name.
Not her real name.
, accessed 23 May 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 4 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 4 July 2016.
Ibid.
CHAPTER 2
Gordhan joined the institution in November 1998 as deputy commissioner. Trevor van Heerden was the first Commissioner of SARS. Gordhan became commissioner on 1 March 1999.
O Fjeldstad and M Moore, Revenue authorities and public authority in sub-Saharan Africa, Journal of Modern African Studies 47(1): 118, March 2009. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Trevor Manuel, Remarkable journey began with toasted cheese and tea, letter from Trevor Manuel to Pravin Gordhan, published in PG , an in-house SARS publication to celebrate a decade of Gordhans leadership as commissioner, Pretoria, 2009.
Ibid.
, accessed 30 May 2016.
Louw is also the ex officio member of the South African Tax Review Committee, appointed by the Minister of Finance in July 2013.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 May 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
V Pillay v Commissioner for SARS , annexure Submission to Sikhakhane panel Labour Court Gauteng Division (Johannesburg), December 2014.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
The powers of SARS include the recoupment of losses through direct payments of penalties or outstanding tax debts (sometimes payment arrangements, financial guarantees and settlements), the preservation of assets, liens, fines, penalties, compound interest and forfeitures. Civil actions may also include obtaining civil debt judgments, executing warrants and selling assets, instituting sequestrations and liquidations (including liquidation enquiries), holding third parties and directors of companies liable in their personal capacity and instituting criminal proceedings.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 14 May 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
Ibid.
CHAPTER 3
Deep-cover agents were employed by the police, but never known to anyone else. My role was to infiltrate organised-crime syndicates and groups. The role meant remaining undercover for as many years as possible, alongside real criminals, the idea being to surface later as a policeman and testify against major criminal syndicates.
A coolie is an outdated and now offensive colonial-era term for an unskilled labourer, mainly in the Indian subcontinent. In South Africa it has always been a racist slur referring to people of Indian descent.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
The Tax and Customs Intelligence Unit later changed its name to the Business Intelligence Unit.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016. In 2005 I would return to take over the Tax and Customs Intelligence Unit, reporting to the general manager, Vuso Shabalala, when the customs and tax parts of it were amalgamated.
, accessed 20 May 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 30 May 2016.
Ibid.
Ibid.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
For example, in S v Botha and Others , the accused raised issues of unfairness in the trial on the basis that the investigators and people who collected evidence presented to the court were not police officials. In its judgment, the court acknowledged that law-enforcement agencies would for the foreseeable future not be capable of combating crime meaningfully on their own. The court found that it is constitutional for a person to conduct criminal investigations, even if not a police official, provided certain limitations and rules are abided by.
Further memoranda of understanding soon followed with the NPA, the AFU, the NIA, the SAPS Border Police Unit and Marine Coastal Management.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
In 2012 various organisational changes in the NPA led to a dilution of its dedicated prosecuting capacity and certain units were no longer solely dedicated to SARS matters. As a result, SARS cases now have to compete with other commercial-crime cases.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 May 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
CHAPTER 4
, accessed 9 June 2016.
, accessed 24 May 2016.
, accessed 9 June 2016.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Not his real name, composite character.
, accessed 11 June 2016.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane and two other advocates were appointed in September 2014 by then acting SARS commissioner, Ivan Pillay, to investigate allegations made against me in May 2014 by a former romantic partner, after the Kanyane Panel had previously been appointed to look into her allegations.
Parliamentarians had been briefed over the years on this and other similar matters in detail by SARS since 2003.
CHAPTER 5
In September 2014, at the European Police Chiefs Convention at the Europol headquarters in The Hague, which SARS attended, this issue was widely canvassed in a country-by-country survey.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
Not the real location.
, accessed 25 July 2016.
V Pillay v Commissioner for SARS , annexure Submission to Sikhakhane panel Labour Court Gauteng Division (Johannesburg), December 2014.
Richer was a member of an underground ANC unit based in Gaborone, together with his wife, Lauren, under the leadership of another ANC and South African Communist Party stalwart Barry Gilder (later the coordinator of Intelligence Services). Richer told me that from the mid-1980s units of the ANC in Botswana came under increasing attack. In 1984 Rogers Nkadimeng was the target of a car bomb. Richer was the target of a raid in 1985 in which 14 people were killed. They killed two people in the house across the street but they didnt get to us. We had a news agency, which was a front they hit that. They basically shot people, and bombed and hand-grenaded the buildings. Richer and his wife had to flee at night with their two baby daughters. (Authors interview with Richer, 20 May 2016.)