Former President Jacob Zuma. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
The Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has directed the South African Revenue Service (Sars) to make a fresh determination on releasing former president Jacob Zuma’s tax records.
The ConCourt delivered its judgment on Tuesday.
Sars appealed a 2021 high court ruling that ordered the revenue service to hand over Zuma’s tax records to investigative media houses, amaBhungane and Financial Mail.
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At the time, the Pretoria High Court ruled Sars must provide the publications with the tax records for the periods between 2010 and 2018.
Judge Norman Davis had also ruled sections 67 and 69 of the Tax Administration Act and sections 35 and 46 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) were unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, the ConCourt confirmed the high court ruling in declaring the Acts invalid as the laws did not permit access to tax records in the public interest.
“The majority of the court held that the total prohibition of access to an individual’s tax records on the grounds that it is necessary to encourage tax disclosure is not a justifiable limitation of the rights to access to information and freedom of expression,” amaBhungane said.
The apex court further referred the application for access to Zuma’s tax records back to Sars for reconsideration.
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Sars has been ordered to consider the application within 30 days.
Justice Jody Kollapen further gave Parliament 24 months to amend the PAIA and the Tax Administration Act in this regard.
“The court read into the provision a public interest override for access to tax records until Parliament amends the laws.”
The Financial Mail and amaBhungane had applied to the high court to consider the constitutionality of the confidentiality of taxpayer information.
They requested Zuma’s tax records based on the allegations made by investigative journalist Jaques Pauw in his book, The President’s Keepers, which stated that he was not tax compliant while he was president and did not submit tax returns.
The book also revealed that the upgrades to Zuma’s Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal constituted a fringe benefit, as well as that the former president received donations from illicit sources and a salary from a security company.
It further states that Zuma appointed Tom Moyane as the commissioner of Sars to undermine the enforcement capability of the revenue service and to stop it from prosecuting him for the non-payment of taxes.
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