Pillay may stay on as SARS head

ACTING SARS commissioner Ivan Pillay’s contract is thought to have been extended for 90 days after a full-time appointment was not announced by the president.

ACTING South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Ivan Pillay’s contract is thought to have been extended for 90 days after his legally allowed threemonth period ended on Friday and a full-time appointment was not announced by the president.

The SARS commissioner vacancy was widely advertised last month, and while the Treasury was not able to confirm any new appointment by late Friday, a source said Mr Pillay’s acting appointment was expected to be extended for another 90 days.

Thursday of last week was the 90th calendar day since Oupa Magashula resigned as commissioner amid a storm of controversy after a probe into allegations of impropriety. The SARS Act states that no SARS employee may be designated as acting commissioner for a period longer than 90 days at a time.

South African Institute of Tax Practitioners Stiaan Klue said on Friday that this meant that either President Jacob Zuma would announce a commissioner, or the finance minister an acting commissioner for another 90 days.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who is to deliver his medium term budget policy statement in two weeks, will want to make a decision that ensures stability at a time when the government is under increasing pressure to collect enough revenue to pay for its growing list of expenses. But the delay in a full-time appointment indicates that finding a suitable replacement is proving more challenging than expected.

The SARS Act of 1997 prescribes that the appointment of commissioner is the prerogative of the president and the Cabinet on the recommendation of the finance minister — who had previously been able to make the fulltime appointment.

In March, Mr Gordhan appointed retired Constitutional Court Justice Zak Yacoob to head an inquiry into claims that Mr Magashula had offered a young woman a job at SARS without following procedure. Mr Gordhan said in July that Mr Magashula had placed SARS’s reputation at risk, and had not been as frank with the investigative committee as he had been expected to be.

However, he said the committee found no evidence that Mr Magashula had committed a crime. The SARS chief resigned after seeing the report.

At the time of Mr Magashula’s resignation, Mr Gordhan stressed that SARS was one of the key pillars of SA’s fiscal order, and therefore, the democratic dispensation. “It is an institution whose very foundations are built on the trust and credibility that South African taxpayers have in it.”

“The public should be patient and allow the president to apply his mind … to consult widely, before announcing the appointment to this important office,” said Mr Klue.