Makwakwa’s return to Sars must be explained, says DA

The DA says it has written to the chairperson of parliament’s standing committee on finance (SCOF) to request that the South African Revenue Service (Sars) be required to report in detail on the return of the organisation’s second-in-command Jonas Makwakwa.

Sars confirmed on Monday that after approximately a year in suspension Makwakwa would return to work on Wednesday following an external probe that cleared him of all charges related to suspicious payments amounting to R1.3 million into his bank account.

On September 15, 2016, Sars commissioned Hogan Lovells to investigate Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) referrals that large amounts of cash deposited into Makwakwa’s as well as Sars employee, Kelly-Ann Elskie, bank accounts.

The DA wants Sars  to include:

• A detailed explanation for the return to Sars of Jonas Makwakwa;
• An unabridged copy of the Hogan Lovells investigation report;
• Whether the Financial Intelligence Centre has been informed of the outcome of the Hogan Lovells investigations; and
• What has been the outcome of the criminal investigation into the Makwakwa/Elskie matter by the Hawks?

“Information received indicates that Makwakwa will be assigned to a new position at SARS and that all cell phones, including that of the SARS Commissioner, Tom Moyane, have been prohibited from being taken into Block A of the SARS Head Office in Pretoria that houses SARS senior management,” DA shadow deputy minister of finance, Alf Lees MP, said in a statement on Monday.

Sars spokesperson Sandile Memela said in a statement Makwakwa would resume his position as Chief Officer: Business & Individual Tax (BAIT).