Moneyweb reports that the SA Revenue Service (SARS) has publicly apologised to several of its former employees whose lives, livelihoods and reputations were destroyed during the years of capture of the tax authority.

It has also paid “fair and reasonable” compensation for the infringement of their personal rights and loss of employment. SARS however acknowledged that its reparation process could not make up for the professional and personal harm the former employees suffered over many years. Among those who received a public apology were former deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay, former group executive for strategic planning and risk Peter Richer, former executive Johann van Loggerenberg and former spokespeople Adrian Lackay and Marika Miller. The extent of the harm done to them was exposed through the Nugent Commission of Inquiry. The commission found that former president Jacob Zuma and his henchmen, notably former SARS commissioner Tom Moyane, waged a war against SARS officials who were getting too close for comfort – fuelled by false reports in the media. Newspaper headlines screamed about the “rogue unit” within SARS that not only spied on Zuma, but also ran a brothel and entered into illegal tax settlements. Many of the people who wanted to protect the agency were forced to quit during the Moyane years. In a statement released on Thursday, SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said SARS deeply regreted the hurt, pain and suffering visited upon the former employees and their families, as a result of the witch-hunt by Zuma’s keepers during 2014 to 2018.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Amanda Visser at The Citizen
• Lees ook, Jan Taks sê ‘jammer’ vir Pillay en kie, by Maroela Media

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