Moyane disciplinary inquiry to go ahead as usual‚ says Presidency

The Presidency on Monday said nothing has changed regarding the disciplinary inquiry into suspended tax boss Tom Moyane.

This is after Moyane’s attorney‚ Eric Mabuza‚ welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa “blinking” in the face of his client’s latest demand to halt the disciplinary process or the commission of inquiry into tax administration and governance chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge Robert Nugent.

Mabuza spoke on Moyane’s behalf at the media briefing in Illovo on Monday‚ saying that he was simply pushing for his client to receive fair treatment from the government.

Moyane is facing serious allegations and could potentially face criminal charges over his conduct while at the helm of the SA Revenue Service over the last four years.

Mabuza told journalists on Monday that Moyane was “pleasantly surprised” at Ramaphosa’s response on Friday to his request that either the disciplinary inquiry or the Nugent commission be halted.

Mabuza had again threatened legal action if Ramaphosa had failed to halt one of the two processes.

But Ramaphosa did not respond directly to the threat. He said he would await the outcome of a formal objection lodged against the disciplinary inquiry chaired by Advocate Azhar Bham‚ to be heard on July 21‚ before taking a decision. In yet another backtrack‚ Mabuza on Monday said Moyane would now only approach the courts after July 21‚ should Bham respond unfavourably to his request for the evidence in his disciplinary inquiry so far to be expunged.

Moyane and Mabuza have been threatening legal action against Ramaphosa and the state since he was suspended in March. Presidency spokesperson Khusela Sangoni on Monday said the Presidency was pleased that Moyane was happy‚ but was not sure what was meant by Mabuza. He said Ramaphosa had “blinked” and he interpreted the president’s response as relenting to his demands.

“Both processes as distinct as they are will continue as they were meant to or were anticipated to and the President will only consider (Moyane’s) objections after a decision from Bham SC‚” she said.

“Nothing therefore has been changed. Nothing has been decided‚” she said.

Moyane is attempting to win public sympathy by arguing that he is being treated unfairly.

However‚ he has yet to respond to any of the very serious allegations against him‚ including why he allowed his second-in-command to return to work at SARS after he did not answer to allegations of suspicious and unusual transactions against him to the tune of R1.2-million identified in a report by the Financial Intelligence Centre - a statutory regulatory authority.

Moyane has also not responded to allegations that he ordered a SARS employee not to cooperate with a KPMG investigation into the alleged “rogue unit” at the tax agency - evidence of which has been published.

Mabuza on Monday alleged that the recording of Moyane ordering the SARS staffer to pretend to be sick during the KPMG investigation had been “doctored”. However‚ he could not elaborate.