Moyane claims he’s the victim of a stitch-up

Suspended SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane’s lawyer Eric Mabuza on Monday morning briefed the media and the public on behalf of Moyane about the latest developments in the current matters dealing with his current term of office at Sars.

Moyane was in attendance but did not speak.

Mabuza reiterated Moyane’s complaint that it is unfair being subjected to two inquiries, namely his disciplinary hearing led by Advocate Azhar Bham and the Nugent commission on tax governance and administration headed by Judge Robert Nugent.

Moyane’s lawyer said that since his client’s suspension, which he claims was unfair, Moyane has had to endure unfair treatment and trial by media.

Mabuza said Moyane would continue to communicate through his legal team and maintain his silence, which should not be misconstrued for timidness.

The lawyer claimed the recording of a phone call in which Moyane instructs a Sars employee to fake an illness to avoid meeting with investigators from KPMG had been doctored.

“Had you listened to that recording properly with a forensic ear you would have heard Mr Moyane thanking the gentleman. As a journalist you would have asked yourself what was Moyane thanking him for and dug deeper,” Mabuza said.

The lawyer added that it had been questionable why that recording had been leaked to the media and not submitted to the Nugent inquiry.

Moyane and his legal team will release the recording to the inquiry in a responsible manner because it implicates other individuals they would prove it had been doctored, Moyane’s lawyer said.

Mabuza called for journalists to report fairly on the Moyane matter, which seemed to infuriate some at the briefing, who said the lawyer was attacking their integrity.

He said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response on Friday to Moyane’s request that one of the inquiries be halted is evidence that the president realised the points raised by the suspended Sars commissioner were valid.

“If he did not believe that we did not make fair points, he would have told us to go to court,” Mabuza said.

He added that if Moyane was found not guilty then he should return to the helm at Sars, which the embattled commissioner is willing to do.

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