{"id":4294,"date":"2016-04-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amabhungane.org\/amabhungane\/stories\/sars-commissioner-tom-moyane-files-defamation-suit-against-amabhungane-journalists-mg\/"},"modified":"2016-04-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T00:00:00","slug":"sars-commissioner-tom-moyane-files-defamation-suit-against-amabhungane-journalists-mg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/sars-commissioner-tom-moyane-files-defamation-suit-against-amabhungane-journalists-mg\/","title":{"rendered":"Sars commissioner Tom Moyane files defamation suit against amaBhungane journalists, M&G"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press Release<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0upheaval at the South African Revenue Service, a crucial public institution, is a matter of significant public interest.<\/p>\n

But Sars Commissioner Tom Moyane is now suing the\u00a0 Mail & Guardian<\/em>\u00a0and amaBhungane reporters for defamation following an article published in February.<\/p>\n

The action threatens to limit the airing of information of public importance affecting the revenue service.<\/p>\n

The story said Sars insiders had accused a group close to Moyane of grabbing control of a key revenue-generating division that deals with large corporations and wealthy individuals, the Large Business Centre (LBC).<\/p>\n

It said Moyane\u2019s critics believed this was an attempt by Moyane\u2019s \u201cnew guard\u201d to give themselves undue influence over settlement negotiations running into billions of rands.His critics also claimed the restructuring at Sars had destabilised the service and undermined its ability to meet revenue targets in a tough economic climate.<\/p>\n

The story cited a former senior official dismissing these views as \u201cimplausible\u201d \u2013 but it contained no response from Moyane or Sars because the service failed to respond to detailed allegations, despite having almost a week to do so.<\/p>\n

The published story is “Sars wars: Moyane’s empire strikes back<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

Now Moyane, Sars Chief Officer Jonas Makwakwa and the revenue service itself are claiming a combined R4-million in damages.<\/p>\n

Moyane and Makwakwa seek damages claims of one million rand apiece, with Sars seeking two million for \u201csevere reputational damage\u201d.<\/p>\n

In their papers,\u00a0the plaintiffs accuse the newspaper and amaBhungane reporters of defaming them \u201cwrongfully and maliciously, with injurious intent \u201c.<\/p>\n