South African Revenue Services (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane hit back at Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, accusing him of bullying and calling on the State Security Agency (SSA) to investigate leaked documents, reported Business Times.
Moyane called Gordhan a bully who "shouts and screams" and treats Moyane like a "non-entity".
On Budget Day on February 22, Gordhan put the pressure on Moyane, said he was concerned about revenue collection because Sars would collect R30-billion less than projected, calling it "the largest under-performance since the 2009 recession".
On Friday, the Mail & Guardian published leaked letters highlighting the acrimonious relationship between the pair.
Moyane told Business Times it was "regrettable" the minister blamed Sars for the shortfall. He said the reasons for the lower collection included the economic growth being lower than projected, resulting in a drop of R6.5-billion in customs duties collections and the lower import VAT collections resulting in a decline of R11.3 billion in VAT collections. Personal income tax collection was also down due to lower wage settlements, lower bonuses and job losses.
Moyane told Business Times he had asked the SSA to investigate the leaking of the correspondence between himself and Gordhan, which he said proved there was no wrongdoing at Sars.