SAFTU welcomes Moyane’s suspension
20 March 2018
The South African Federation of Trade Unions welcomes the suspension by President Cyril Ramaphosa of SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane and his replacement by Mark Kingon.
The Presidency issued a statement that Moyane had been suspended “with immediate effect pending the institution of disciplinary proceedings”. Ramaphosa added that developments at the SARS under Moyane’s leadership “have resulted in a deterioration in public confidence in the institution and in public finances being compromised. For the sake of the country and the economy, this situation cannot be allowed to continue, or to worsen”.
This action was long overdue, after 42-months in which this vital public institution was captured by people milking the site of billions of rands and dodging paying tax. A succession of skilled SARS staff left or were dismissed and senior executives were persecuted through phony charges of forming an illegal ‘rogue unit’.
SAFTU agrees with the Daily Maverick’s Marianne Thamm that this led to “ the reduction of the once-formidable revenue service to a hollow shell. Under Moyane, one of Jacob Zuma’s most loyal pawns, SARS became a key and vital player of the State Capture project”.