Via a submission through his lawyer, Dali Mpofu, suspended South African Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane wants the inquiry into governance and tax administration at the institution halted and all evidence presented in the public hearings thus far scrapped from the record.
Speaking to the panel on Friday, with Moyane in attendance, Mpofu said there were a number of biases that exist within the inquiry, and that Moyane was not given an opportunity to respond to allegations made against him during hearings throughout the week.
Mpofu argued for:
- A discontinuation of the commission of inquiry pending the outcome of disciplinary processes against Moyane;
- All the evidence of the past three days to be expunged from the record; and
- Michael Katz recusing himself from Judge Robert Nugent's panel because of his affiliation with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mpofu also launched an attack on public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, who testified before the panel on Tuesday.
"He (Gordhan) said his tenure at Sars was efficient and flawless, that he instituted an operational model that was magnificent, that Moyane unnecessarily changed his magnificent operation... He did not explain how he came to be the first witness to be called... He didn't say that the collection revised targets are based on the performance of the economy," Mpofu claimed.
"Gordhan didn't tell you that the first time in the history of South Africa that R1-trillion was collected was under Moyane. Gordhan has never collected a trillion rand for the South African economy... The operating model produced under Moyane's watch inter alia produced revenue targets being met, empowerment of Africans and African women in particular, and an exco where [sic] all have tertiary education."
Mpofu alleged that if the inquiry goes ahead, it will be "nothing more than a monumental waste of taxpayers money".
He claimed that the commission failed to invite Moyane to give his version of events, that it did not allow Moyane the opportunity to rebut allegations set against him, suggested that there was bias in the choice of witnesses, and questioned the neutrality of the panel.
This story is ongoing. Check the HuffPost front page for further reports.