EFF says Jacob Zuma not to blame for taxman's mess
Who would have thought we'd live to see the day when the EFF defends Jacob Zuma in anything? That was the response by many after the EFF defended the former president, when it was insinuated by journalist Ferial Haffajee that the troubles at the SA Revenue Service (Sars) began during his presidential terms.
Haffajee sparked a debate on social media after she shared a link to one of her reports from 2017, where she alleged that former Sars commissioner Ivan Pillay's troubles started when he questioned Zuma about his tax affairs.
Ivan Pillay's trouble started when he questioned former president Jacob Zuma about his tax affairs. Are these the hidden hands behind today's Public Protector report? How the taxman was broken https://t.co/2i00mM6vqy via @News24
— Ferial Haffajee (@ferialhaffajee) July 5, 2019
In her report, she detailed Zuma's four previous encounters with Sars and how Tom Moyane was installed as the new commissioner at that time.
BusinessDay reported last year that Moyane was axed from the service after retired judge Robert Nugent made damning findings against him.
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In Zuma's defence, EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee rejected Haffajee's suggestions, saying that the problems for Pillay were mainly because he wasn't properly qualified for the job.
"Problems started when without a matric he became a senior Sars official, established a parallel intelligence unit and lastly when he stole his pension (we all want that arrangement) and got himself re-employed again by Sars without advertisement of his post," he said.
No, @ferialhaffajee, problems started when without a matric he became a senior SARS official, established a parallel intelligence unit & lastly, when he stole his pension (we all want that arrangement) & got himself re-employed again by SARS without advertisement of his post !! https://t.co/78KvMQos9L
— Godrich Gardee (@GardeeGodrich) July 7, 2019
Haffajee responded to Gardee, saying that Pillay does have a matric qualification.
Not quite, Honourable @GardeeGodrich - Ivan Pillay does have a matric (story later today). And, the cops (Criminal Intelligence), the FIC (an intelligence centre) the FSCA and SARS all gather intelligence in their fields - it’s not intelligence as pertains to national security. https://t.co/eCZbwYqJSU
— Ferial Haffajee (@ferialhaffajee) July 8, 2019
Gardee replied, saying: "Interception of communication can only be done by three intelligence units."
Interception of communication can only be done by 3 intelligence units. Police, army & Secret Service (Domestic & Foreign). They must get permission from a designated judge...Purchase & possession of such equipment by any person or entity except those above is unlawful & criminal https://t.co/GlRY3JWUro
— Godrich Gardee (@GardeeGodrich) July 8, 2019
Meanwhile, both Pillay and Gordhan are in the process of challenging public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane's findings against them in court.