Former president Jacob Zuma systematically worked with former SA Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Tom Moyane to gut the tax collector and protect his own tax affairs and his ever-expanding network from probes coming from within SARS from the likes of deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay.
Daily Maverick investigative journalist Pauli van Wyk reports that the connection between Zuma and Moyane is one of the most significant findings from the first volume of the report into State Capture compiled from the Zondo Commission hearings.
Van Wyk spent four years investigating Moyane’s involvement with SARS and she has pieced together the rot at SARS through her own sources and reporting as well as the new information that has been complied through volume one of the State Capture report.
So important was the link between Zuma and the systematic gutting of SARS that 87 pages of the 874 pages from the first volume of the report are dedicated to Zuma’s dealings with SARS.
“We would probe a problem our risk engine would highlight, and we would stumble upon a Zuma friend, or someone we knew supported him financially. At the same time, without the different teams knowing of the other, we attempted to regularise his tax affairs and perhaps asked questions that may have been uncomfortable. I think that is why the president thought we were gunning for him,” a source told Daily Maverick.
News24 reports while fire doors were installed at Parliament, they never closed to protect other parts of the building and slow down and contain the blaze (for subscribers). The fire doors were installed shortly after a blaze destroyed parts of the University of Cape Town last year, but because of “cheap latches” that had been installed to keep the doors open, they were rendered ultimately useless.
The findings were compiled in a report put together by senior fire safety staff and handed over to Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
But the failure to protect the parliament buildings and ensure the safety of staff and MPs runs deeper than just the fire doors failing to close.
“Parliament has confirmed that external auditing company OHSA Health and Safety Consultants submitted a safety, health and environment (SHE) report in May 2018 that was carried out to ensure the legislative body complied with the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act,” reports Daily Maverick.
Subsequently, not much was done by the legislative body to ensure that safety standards were improved.
In the markets, the rand opened weaker in trade this morning at R15.96/$ in line with other EM markets that have remained weak and under pressure.
“The December Fed FOMC minutes signaled that the Fed could accelerate their pace of taper further and that they were likely to raise interest rates earlier and faster in order to rein in inflation. The hawkish stance put the brakes on the Rand’s strength,” comments trading house TreasuryONE.
Commodities have softened this morning with gold currently lower at $1,806, platinum is down at $978, and palladium is lower at $1,858. The oil price has fallen off yesterday’s higher levels, with Brent down 1.35% at $79.71.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
SAB in talks about mandatory vaccinations for staff – Fin24
Auction: Icasa blasts Telkom’s ‘narrow and selfish interests’ – TechCentral SA
Shell’s seismic ship leaving South Africa after court loss – Fin24/Bloomberg
Global Business
Uranium Surges as Unrest Grips World’s Top Supplier Kazakhstan – Daily Maverick/Bloomberg
SpaceX refunds Starlink preorders in India after govt told it to stop selling service without licence – Business Insider
Suspend Bain & Co, urges Lord Hain in a letter to UK government – Daily Maverick
Markets
Asian markets track Wall St drop on Fed rate hike plans – AFP
US stocks slide, Treasury yields up on Fed taper discussion – SABC
Heaviest Tech Selling in a Decade Fueled Stock-Market Rate Rout – Bloomberg
Opinion/In-depth
How Jacob Zuma and his dodgy friends captured the SA Revenue Service – Daily Maverick
Future-proofing SA: We need an independent anti-corruption agency and a national charter against graft – Daily Maverick
Caviar sales soar as more people get a taste for posh fish eggs – BBC
Video
Ramaphosa says ConCourt attack concerning – eNCA
Parliament Fire | Artwork and heritage site safe – eNCA
5G Service Rollout Is Delayed Amid Flight Safety Concerns – Wall Street Journal
Feature image: Flickr
