From the SA Press Association
Economic Freedom Fighters’ leader Julius Malema’s sequestration case is expected to be heard in the High Court in Pretoria today.
The provisional sequestration order against Malema regarding his outstanding tax bill was extended in December.
“The court order was granted today by mutual agreement between Sars and the taxpayer [Malema] to allow for the settlement agreement to be finalised,” SA Revenue Service spokesman at the time, Adrian Lackay, said last year.
In February last year, Judge Bill Prinsloo ordered that Malema’s estate be provisionally sequestrated. In May and again in August, his provisional sequestration was extended and the matter was postponed.
Malema previously admitted he had not attended to his tax affairs the way the law required. According to court papers, Malema owed Sars R16 million, plus interest, after failing to submit tax returns between 2006 and 2010.
In 2010 Sars contacted Malema about his failure to submit tax returns. It took Malema 18 months, after many attempts by Sars, to file his outstanding returns.
Malema had failed to register his Ratanang Family Trust for tax purposes, and Sars had to do this on his behalf.
Sars attached some of Malema’s property, including a farm in Limpopo and a house still under construction in Johannesburg, to recoup some of the taxes he owed.
A final sequestration order could affect Malema’s political career, as he would no longer be allowed to serve as an MP.
