The Presidency will file an affidavit outlining its case against former Sars commissioner Tom Moyane on Wednesday, after missing its own deadline on Tuesday, to the frustration of Moyane, Business Day reported.
On Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa missed a deadline he set himself to file an affidavit detailing the case against Moyane, according to TimesLive, adding to tensions between the two. Moyane's lawyers reportedly said this was unfair to the former Sars boss, who is facing a disciplinary inquiry, mainly over his handling of corruption allegations against his former second-in-command, Jonas Makwakwa.
According to TimesLive, Ramaphosa promised to file the affidavit, setting out his case against Moyane, on June 8.
Moyane's lawyer, Eric Mabuza, reportedly wrote to the state attorney on Tuesday:
"The delays in getting this matter afoot and providing Commissioner Moyane a fair opportunity to clear his name and go back to his office are becoming increasingly intolerable and costly. We are instructed to urge you‚ as we hereby do‚ to once again impress upon the president that this matter needs to be treated with the utmost degree of urgency in the public interest and in the interest of the economy of South Africa...
"It is now 5 days since the expiry of that self-imposed deadline and the President has failed to deliver on his undertaking. We have not even been granted the usual and expected courtesy of a formal letter either explaining the delay or requesting an extension‚ or both.
"Such behaviour is extremely unacceptable‚ unprofessional and discourteous both towards our client and the Chairperson of the Inquiry."
Ramaphosa's spokeswoman, Khusela Diko, told Business Day that Ramaphosa would file a "comprehensive and quite lengthy affidavit", which apparently runs into hundreds of pages, on Wednesday.
She reportedly said, "We have communicated with the presiding officer and Mr Moyane's lawyers that we were delayed in filing a comprehensive and quite lengthy affidavit in this inquiry.
"We will file this document on Wednesday.
Our delay does not affect the integrity of the process or the amount of time Moyane will be afforded to respond to the allegations against him."
Daily Maverick reported in May that the charges against the former Sars boss are so serious that they could result in criminal charges if they are proven to be true. Additional charges have reportedly been deferred to the commission of inquiry into Sars.
Moyane has previously complained about the fairness of his inquiry, which is being done entirely on paper with no verbal testimony.
The disciplinary charges against him reportedly include so-called "bonus" payments of R3 million to his executive committee, misleading Parliament, and instructing a Sars official not to cooperate with KPMG's Sars investigation.