Axed Sars officials meet with KPMG, the company that caused them ‘immense harm’

In a statement on Tuesday, aggrieved former SA Revenue Service (SARS) officials Ivan Pillay, Peter Richer, Yolisa Pikie and Adrian Lackay explained what had transpired at a meeting with KPMG – the audit firm whose highly controversial report about an alleged rogue spy unit at SARS cost them their careers.

Other affected parties such as former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and SARS group executive Johann van Loggerenberg were not part of the meeting.

However, Gordhan and his former deputy Mcebisi Jonas already met with KPMG last week.

Van Loggerenberg, who resigned from Sars in 2015 after explosive reports of a “rogue unit” at Sars implicated him, said through his lawyer last week he was considering legal action against the firm.

Pillay used to be the deputy tax commissioner, Richer was the strategic planning risk group executive, Pikie was special adviser to Pillay and Lackay was the spokesperson.

They said they had responded to a request from KPMG to meet the leadership of KMPG South Africa, led by new CEO Nhlamu Dlomu, attended by members of KPMG International.

While they said they appreciated the efforts by KPMG to “finally afford those affected by the ‘forensic’ investigative report to SARS the opportunity to be heard”, it did not mean they were not still considering future legal action.

They said they remained unhappy and felt KPMG still needed to come clean on the harm it had caused and the full extent of what it had been party to.

They also called for the forensic report KPMG had compiled on the “rogue unit” to be fully withdrawn.

“We remain convinced that KPMG’s conduct has caused immense harm to a number of experienced individuals, their reputations and careers as public servants, and it damaged institutions like SARS.

“We believe KPMG should make full and frank disclosure about their past conduct and institute credible initiatives to make right the harm that was caused to numerous individuals, to public institutions, to our country and the economy.

“In our view, the ‘findings’ of the KPMG ‘forensic report’ to SARS, became the basis for the aborted criminal prosecution of the former Finance Minister, Mr Pravin Gordhan, the former SARS Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ivan Pillay, and others, during October 2016.

“The decision by the National Director of Public Prosecutions to issue summons against these individuals, and against Mr Gordhan in particular, days before the October 2016 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, caused intractable economic harm and uncertainty.

“To date the allegations of that ‘a covert and rogue intelligence unit’ was established by SARS ‘in contravention of the rule of law’ have been substantially disavowed. As this aspect was the central focus of the ‘forensic report’ to SARS, we trust that this report will in future be withdrawn in full.

“As our rights are reserved, including the right to seek legal recourse, we will not make further public statements on this matter at this time.”