The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday again courted government ire by releasing privileged information. The party’s David Maynier - in a statement headlined “Sars ‘rogue unit’ is being swept under the carpet in Parliament” – repeated the contents of a letter from the chairperson of the joint standing committee on intelligence‚ Connie September‚ “which was classified ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ ”.Maynier said he had asked her whether the committee “had conducted any hearings or scheduled any hearings” on the alleged South African Revenue Service’s alleged “rogue unit”.Maynier said September’s “CONFIDENTIAL” response read thus: “The Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence fulfils its mandate in accordance with the Intelligence Services Act‚ 1994 (Act No. 40 of 1994).” This‚ he said‚ “is bizarre and strongly suggests the intelligence committee has not lifted a finger to deal” with the matter.This has prompted Maynier to request Yunus Carrim‚ the chairperson of the standing committee on finance:- To write a letter to…September‚ asking her to provide the finance committee with a progress report on the intelligence committee’s probe into the Sars ‘rogue unit’; and- “Give an undertaking that the intelligence committee will produce a special report on the Sars ‘rogue unit’ in terms of Section 6 (2) of the Intelligence Services Oversight Act (No. 40 of 1994).”“In the end‚ Sars is not part of the ‘national intelligence structure’ and the probe into the allegations surrounding the Sars ‘rogue unit’ should never have been referred to the joint standing committee on intelligence‚” said Maynier.Last week‚ the DA’s Western Cape premier‚ Helen Zille‚ annoyed the Presidency when she “released confidential information to the public”.The Presidency said Zille reported on the contents of a pre-State of the Nation Address consultation with President Jacob Zuma in her Inside Government newsletter in which she warned of looming budget cuts...