Cyril Ramaphosa axes embattled Sars boss Tom Moyane

01 November 2018 - 18:03 By timeslive
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Suspended SARS commissioner Tom Moyane was fired by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday.
Suspended SARS commissioner Tom Moyane was fired by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday.
Image: ALON SKUY

President Cyril Ramaphosa has fired SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane.

Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko confirmed Ramaphosa's decision to Business Day on Thursday. 

Business Day reported that Ramaphosa had accepted the recommendation of the Sars commission of inquiry's chair, retired judge Robert Nugent, to axe Moyane, and served him with a notice of termination of employment on Thursday.

Moyane was suspended in March after a string of controversies around his running of Sars, including a R50bn hole in revenue collection in 2017 and a decline in taxpayer compliance under his watch.

Stabilising Sars has been flagged as a key priority by the Treasury.

Nugent recommended that in order to stabilise the institution, Ramaphosa should fire Moyane and replace him with a permanent commissioner.

Nugent described Moyane’s leadership of Sars as disturbing and to the detriment of revenue collections.

“The day Mr Moyane took office was a calamity for Sars. Almost immediately, and then continuously for the next 18 months, Sars was thrown into turmoil with tragic consequences for the lives of many people, tragic consequences for the reputation of Sars and tragic consequences for the country at large,” Nugent wrote in his report.

The judge further noted that while replacing Moyane would not by itself restore Sars it was a non-negotiable prerequisite for the process of recovery to begin.


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