Don't personalise Treasury/SARS issue - Gordhan

Cape Town – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told MPs not to personalise the engagements National Treasury has with the South African Revenue Service about the tax system and its administrative capabilities. 

“It’s not between Gordhan and (Tom) Moyane (SARS Commissioner). He is the head of a fiscal institution and my job is to see if he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. SARS is the revenue administrator and it must do its work in a manner to support government’s fiscal objectives. 

“I’m only doing my job and hopefully they’ll begin to do their jobs as well,” he said. 

Gordhan and a delegation from National Treasury, including Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and director general Lungisa Fuzile, briefed MPs of Parliament’s finance committees on the 2017 Budget Review – a day after Gordhan delivered his Budget Speech in the National Assembly.

Asked by an MP if government is concerned about tax avoidance, Gordhan responded that an effective tax administration should be able to detect tax avoidance practices. 

READ: Taxpayers foot bill for the largest revenue shortfall in eight years 

Gordhan said he has been meeting regularly with SARS’ top management about the skills capability and stability in the institutions. “There will be more meetings in the next few weeks.” 

At a media briefing on Wednesday ahead of his Budget Speech, Gordhan expressed concern over revenue collection, which was more than R30bn short of the target stipulated in the 2016 budget – the largest deficit in eight years. 

Gordhan’s utterances were made amid rumours of a standoff between him and Moyane. 

In November last year, Gordhan said in a parliamentary reply that there was a lack of accountability and cooperation from the top management at SARS. 

READ: Gordhan climbs into SARS top management 

At the time, the Democratic Alliance’s David Maynier asked Gordhan if he was aware of the existence of a SARS High Risk Investigation Unit to which Gordhan replied that the information provided by SARS could not be verified due to a lack of cooperation. 

In a separate parliamentary response in October, Gordhan said Moyane had failed to inform him of the suspension of unusual payments to suspended SARS official Jonas Makwakwa.

Gordhan said he only became aware of the Makwakwa issue through an article in the Sunday Times published on September 11 2016.

Parliament should tighten oversight 

In Thursday’s post-budget briefing, Gordhan also told MPs to keep a close eye on the financial state of affairs at state-owned enterprises. 

“Parliament should hold these institutions to account. National Treasury has lots of other work to do. You can’t expect us to do everything.” 

According to the finance minister, some SOEs are manipulating their finances. “Parliament should take this seriously. We have narratives that distract us from the facts at play. You need to watch the ball carefully in this regard.” 

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