How Tom Moyane turned crack investigators into paper pushers

23 August 2018 - 07:00 By Amil Umraw
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Suspended SARS commissioner Tom Moyane. File photo.
Suspended SARS commissioner Tom Moyane. File photo.
Image: ALON SKUY

Tom Moyane’s controversial re-modelling of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) is said to have fragmented various investigative units dealing with high-profile cases of tax evasion, money laundering and illicit trading.

As a result, cases involving poachers, drug lords and gang bosses were left up in the air while senior investigators and managers were shuffled off to paper-pushing positions.

This according to a group of employees who provided a scathing report on the effects of the now suspended commissioner’s new operating model, to Judge Robert Nugent and his commission of inquiry into tax administration and governance issues at Sars.

Moyane’s restructuring is said to have put a stop to end-to-end investigations of complex cases, decentralising specialised units.

This also had an effect on customs and excise units within the organisation.

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