Suspended Sars boss Moyane rejected two settlement offers from Ramaphosa – report

Suspended South African Revenue Services commissioner (Sars) Tom Moyane has reportedly rejected two settlement offers from President Cyril Ramaphosa before his removal from the tax authority last month.

The Business Day reports Moyane replied to a third settlement offer with conditions of his own, which were subsequently turned down by Ramaphosa. He apparently wanted the president to hold a press conference with him where there would be an announcement on their amicable parting of ways.

Moyane is also understood to have wanted Ramaphosa to publicly acknowledge that under his leadership at Sars, the institution had surpassed the R1-trillion “psychological barrier” for three consecutive years, and that he ran Sars with “leadership and integrity”.

“It is understood that Moyane rejected an offer of a six-month payout, then a payout of nine months. He submitted counter conditions to a final offer of a 12-month payout — which was rejected by Ramaphosa, according to sources,” the publication reported.

Ramaphosa suspended the tax boss after he reportedly refused to step down voluntarily. In a scathing three-page letter to Moyane, he said he had lost confidence in Moyane’s ability to lead Sars over a number of scandals that had dogged the institution during his tenure.

Moyane’s alleged failure to attend to a report given to him in 2016 by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), which alerted him of suspicious payments into his second-in-command Jonas Makwakwa and that of his partner Kelly-Ann Elskie, was one of the reasons he was suspended.

In November last year, Makwakwa was cleared of all charges and given the go-ahead to return to work. However, opposition parties objected strongly to his reinstatement.

Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko confirmed to Business Day that disciplinary process against Moyane would commence. Diko declined to comment on the content of the president’s engagements with Moyane since his suspension.

–  Additional reporting African News Agency

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