SARS hits back at Gordhan’s ‘aspersions’

01 December 2016 - 19:48 By Linda Ensor
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Tension between the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan mounted on Thursday‚ with the tax agency issuing a statement in which it noted "with dismay" what it said was the unjustified accusation that its leadership lacked accountability.

Gordhan made the comment earlier this week in his reply to a parliamentary question by DA finance spokesman David Maynier.

SARS informed Gordhan for the purpose of his reply to Maynier that it did not have a specialised investigating unit similar to the covert "rogue" unit which has caused such a controversy over the past year.

The existence of this unit when Gordhan was the SARS commissioner led to his being hounded by the Hawks.

However‚ following an expose by the Sunday Times in November‚ subsequent to its submission of the information to the finance ministry‚ SARS admitted that it had established a secret unit to investigate corrupt dealings between members of staff and individuals in the tobacco industry.

In a statement on Thursday‚ SARS denied that its management lacked accountability.

It noted that since Gordhan had taken office in December 2015‚ the SARS leadership had received 29 parliamentary questions through the office of the Finance Minister. “All Parliamentary questions were responded to timeously and no single deadline was ever missed‚” it asserted.

“Since the current Finance Minister took office‚ the SARS’ leadership has appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance and SCOPA 5 times. At all material times‚ the SARS leadership has never missed a single Parliamentary Committee meeting.

“The SARS leadership has met the current Finance Minister 8 times since he took office to discuss issues of mutual interest. In this regard‚ the SARS’ record of meetings attest that the current Finance Minister has never at any point expressed lack of confidence and/or lack of accountability in the leadership of the SARS‚” the agency added.

“Finally‚ the SARS submissions to the current Finance Minister and/ or Parliamentary Committees are always honest‚ truthful‚ correct and factual. To date and as a matter of fact‚ the SARS leadership has no record from the Ministry requesting it to verify the factual and correctness of the information provided.”

SARS management said it found “no inspiration to engage the current Finance Minister via the media” and believed that the established channels of communication were sufficient for a normal and efficient functioning of this crucial state organ and to act in accordance with the principle and spirit of co-operative governance as envisaged in chapter 3 of the Constitution.

“The leadership of SARS is committed to a professional working relationship with the current Finance Minister and his team. The SARS’ leadership is devoted to an open‚ transparent and accountable governance in its dealings with all organs of state including the Ministry of Finance and taxpayers.”

TMG Digital/BusinessLive

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