‘Now go after the capturers of Sars’ – Van Loggerenberg

With the controversial 2014 report which spawned the messy ‘rogue unit’ saga now set aside, Johann van Loggerenberg has called on the authorities to bring to book those involved in the country’s tax collector’s “capture”.

On Monday the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted an order, by consent, reviewing and setting aside a report by then inspector-general of intelligence (IGI) Faith Radebe titled: “Report on investigation into Media Allegations against the Special Operations Unit and / or other Branches of the State Security Agency”.

Dubbed the Radebe report, the 49-page document charged that there had been an unlawful covert intelligence unit operating at Sars, and fingered a number of Sars officials, among them Van Loggerenberg – the then head of the high-risk investigations unit.

Van Loggerenberg got hold of a copy of the report last year and approached the court with an application to have it reviewed and set aside. He said at the time the report was “nothing but a concoction of lies, disinformation, fraudulent claims and a complete cover-up of evidence and facts that implicate persons associated with the State Security Agency (SSA), its Special Operations Unit (SOU) and other branches, as well as other state intelligence operatives and private entities and persons associated with the ‘services’.”

The Minister of State Security and the IGI initially opposed Van Loggerenberg’s case against them but both subsequently changed their stances.

In a statement issued through his legal team at Werksmans Attorneys on Tuesday, Van Loggerenberg was “appreciative for the IGI, State Attorney and Ministry of State Security ultimately
doing the right thing”.

He called on the the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) – together with SARS, the SSA and the IGI – “to immediately act against current and former employees and operatives, as well as their co-conspirators in the media and private security companies and the tobacco industry, that [Van Loggerenberg] and others substantively and directly implicated in very serious criminal offences and the advancement of rogue activities that undermined SARS, its staff, investigations and audits”.

Van Loggerenberg also called on those involved, “to the extent that they have any conscience, and those that may have been misled and duped to play along to advance the state capture of SARS and further other nefarious political agendas, to contact the relevant authorities immediately”.

In the meantime, Van Loggerenberg has instructed his lawyers “to urgently engage with the SARS, and any other relevant parties, with a view to seek closure on any outstanding matters in this regard”.

The former head of enforcement at Sars, Gene Ravele, has also welcomed Monday’s court order.

Ravele was interviewed for the Radebe report but said afterwards that what appeared in the report was not a true reflection of what he had said.

“There needs to be a lesson learnt from all this,” Ravele told The Citizen, “A lesson that the truth shall always prevail and that the court of public opinion doesn’t matter”.

He said the case highlighted how crucial it was for the authorities to investigate whistleblower claims properly.

“It’s sad that as a country we had to travel this journey – a journey that led to the lives of innocent people being destroyed,” Ravele said.

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