Five must-read stories on former Sars boss Tom Moyane

The embattled former SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner has fought a lengthy war in 2018, trying to cling on to his job as President Cyril Ramaphosa cleaned out state-owned enterprises.

Moyane was suspended in March and had to face his own disciplinary hearing as well as the commission of inquiry into Sars headed by retired judge Robert Nugent. 

The testimonies at the commission revealed gross financial and administrative malfunctions at the tax agency, including a R100m hole in tax revenue collection and multimillion-rand contracts that were awarded to external firms that admitted to producing substandard work.

Here are 5 must-read stories from Moyane's 2018 whirlwind

Nugent made a recommendation in the Sars commission interim report that Ramaphosa fire Moyane immediately, regardless of the outcome of his disciplinary hearing.

Moyane was then fired after a long stand-off that involved two inquiries into the mismanagement of Sars during his tenure.

Ramaphosa served him with a notice of termination on November 1, after having accepted Nugent's recommendations to fire Moyane to stabilise Sars.

Moyane took to the Constitutional Court in November to challenge the legitimacy of the Sars inquiry, which aimed to have him permanently removed as the tax agency boss.

He said the commission was biased  against him and that it was unfair for him to have a disciplinary hearing and face the inquiry at the same time.

Moyane then went to the high court in Pretoria in a last-ditch bid to get his job back.

He was dealt yet another blow when his application was dismissed on December 11 with Judge Hans Fabricius saying his request for an interdict was not urgent.

Moyane was also required to cover the legal costs of the respondents.

The Sars commission recommended that the national director of public prosecutions institute criminal proceedings regarding the multimillion-rand contract awarded to international consultancy firm Bain & Company under Moyane's watch at Sars.

This was one of several recommendations made by the commission in their final report released on December 14 into the Sars saga.