Unpacking motives (and failures) of legal attacks on Pravin Gordhan – Lackay

Adrian Lackay was the canary in the coal mine, warning of the dangerous situation that was unfolding at the South African Revenue Service under the leadership of Commissioner Tom Moyane. The former spokesperson of SARS resigned from the tax collector and wrote to Parliament in 2015 to tell MPs how Moyane was creating instability at the revenue service and how it would ultimately lead to revenue falls. What thanks did he get? MPs ignored his letters and Moyane slapped a R12m civil suit on Lackay. It was only in October 2018 that the lawsuit was dropped. Lackay now works for Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. He told Alec Hogg that people who doubt Gordhan must not be swayed by the emotion behind his detractors who are driving a vociferous campaign on social media; they should look at the facts emanating from the various court cases. – Linda van Tilburg

Adrian Lackay has looked back at 2010 and said it was in the middle of the formative years for a formidable Revenue and Customs Administration.  Compare that to the latest projections from the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni who has predicted a significant revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year. This comes on the back of successive fiscal years when there had been under-collection in revenue.

Lackay says the bailing out of Eskom and other state-owned enterprises leads to a fiscal situation where debt will continue to grow over the next three years. If revenue collection is not repaired or restored to previous levels, the fiscus and South African economy is going to have a growing problem. He was hoping that under a new Commissioner and hopefully a new management team; SARS would be able to regain some of its capability to actually meet revenue targets.

___STEADY_PAYWALL___