WERKSMANS MEDIA STATEMENT: PILLAY//GORDHAN//PUBLIC PROTECTOR AND OTHERS - PUBLIC PROTECTOR REVIEW APPLICATION
Media statement
7 December 2020
Our clients, Messrs Ivan Pillay and Johann van Loggerenberg, welcome the judgment by the full bench of the High Court, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, that sets aside the Public Protector’s Report into the establishment of an investigative unit at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) during our clients’ tenure as senior SARS officials.
The court has confirmed what our clients have always contended: the SARS investigative unit was established lawfully, successfully pursued the national interest and was never covert or "rogue".
It brings no pleasure to our clients to note that finally, the effects of the often perpetuated "rogue unit narrative", on which certain elements of the media relied to justify their malicious attacks on our clients, have now come to pass. Public trust in SARS has through the process been corroded.
Compliance with tax and customs laws has declined precipitously. Tax revenues have declined drastically. Institutional systems within SARS have been broken. Thus, an institution that was once the pride of South Africa and was respected beyond the country's borders must now remake itself anew. This is not even the full measure of the damage that was wrought on South Africa.
More than that, the court found that the Public Protector acted irrationally, unlawfully and incorrigibly. Her conduct, the court finds, has stained the institution that she heads - an institution of utmost constitutional importance and one that most South Africans looked up to lead the fight against corruption and protect the rights of ordinary citizens. The Public Protector’s conduct – which the judgment describes as ‘reprehensible’, ‘manifestly bias’ towards our clients and ‘irrational’ - is unfortunate and will lead to a further erosion of public trust in important institutions that must strengthen our democratic development.
Issued by Bernard Hotz, Director, Werksmans Attorneys, 7 December 2020
