Pretoria - Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has responded to questions sent by the Hawks on the so called “rogue” unit at the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
In a statement on Wednesday, the Minister said he had responded to the questions posed by the Hawks, adding that according to legal advice he is not obliged, under any law, to answer the questions sent. He said he believes that it is in the public interest that he provide the Hawks with information he has.
“Be that as it may, as a law abiding citizen I have decided to co-operate fully,” he said.
According to the Minister, the Hawks declined to answer his questions that were seeking clarity on what offence they were investigating and by what authority they were acting.
The Minister said according to legal advice the unit -- which was established while he was the Commissioner of SARS -- was established lawfully.
“I believed that the unit was lawfully established to perform very important functions for and on behalf of SARS. The unit did not initially have a name but was later successively known as the Special Projects Unit, the National Research Group and the High-Risk Investigations Unit. I participated in the decision to establish the Unit in February 2007,” he explained.
He added that the unit was an essential part of SARS’ enforcement strategy as it is with most tax and customs administrations globally.
“As far as I was aware, the unit lawfully performed its functions. As far as I was aware, the funding of the unit was done through normal budgetary processes applicable to SARS.”
The unit’s establishment was in line with government’s commitment to crack down on crime generally and organised crime in particular.
“I am advised by my legal team that the Sikhakhane Panel was mistaken in its conclusion that the establishment of the unit had contravened section 3 of the National Strategic Intelligence Act 39 of 1994. The Sikhakhane finding that the establishment of the Unit contravened the National Strategic Intelligence Act was wrong and based on a superficial and clearly mistaken reading of section 3(1) of the National Strategic Intelligence Act.”
With regard to the activities of the unit during his time as Commissioner, the Minister said the unit employed “26 odd people” a miniscule part of the 15 000 staff compliment of SARS.
In his comments, the Minister reiterated that the unit was part of the broader enforcement division of SARS – similar to the enforcement capabilities required in any tax and customs administration in the world.
“The Hawks have no reason to investigate me. All of us should be concerned about protecting our democratic institutions in a manner that assures public confidence that these institutions will not be arbitrarily tempered with. This is what the Constitution requires of all of us,” he said.
He further added that South Africa and the world are facing challenging economic times. “Our biggest challenge as a nation is to ensure that we are able to grow this economy so we can create jobs for our people and make inroads in addressing poverty. That is the work I would like to focus on with the National Treasury team.
“SARS is an important fiscal institution. We cannot afford to let this key institution be distracted from its core mandate of revenue collection,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
