Former Sars executives Ivan Pillay, Johann van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg are "humiliated" at having to appear in court and say there are "alternative agendas" at work in their prosecution, according to Daily Maverick.
They appeared in court on Monday on charges of contravening the Rica Act. It is alleged that they hired Helgard Lombard to spy on the Scorpions and the National Prosecuting Authority at their offices in 2007.
Other witnesses reportedly include former finance minister Trevor Manuel and former senior NPA officials Gerrie Nel, Vusi Pikoli and Andrew Leask.
According to Daily Maverick, Werksmans attorney Bernard Hotz, who represented the Sars officials, said they were "aggrieved" and "humiliated". He reportedly said their case had the same case number as the case against Pravin Gordhan, in which the charges were ultimately withdrawn.
He reportedly said: "It would appear, unfortunately, that there are ulterior agendas."
The case has been moved to the high court.
In addition to Manuel, Nel, Pikoli and Leask, as reported by News24, former Sars witnesses Tom Moyane and Jonas Makwakwa are witnesses number one and two.
The case was postponed and Pillay, Van Loggerenberg and Janse van Rensburg plan to make representations to the NPA as to why the case against them should be dropped, according to Eyewitness News.