Ramaphosa’s lawyers accuse Moyane of attempting to sabotage hearing

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s lawyers have accused suspended tax boss Tom Moyane of effectively sabotaging the speedy conclusion of the misconduct inquiry against him by using technical points as a basis to not answer to the charges against him.

They further accuse Moyane of making submissions “littered with sarcastic‚ insulting and disparaging comment”, aimed only at delaying the hearing against him from proceeding.

Moyane‚ in turn‚ argues that the inquiry against him is being conducted in an “unlawful‚ unfair‚ unconstitutional and manifestly oppressive” way.

He says he can answer to the case against him only when these objections are resolved.

But “If‚ as Mr Moyane has stated repeatedly in correspondence through his attorney‚ he seeks to clear his name as a matter of urgency‚ one would have expected him to have answered to the substance of the allegations contained in the affidavit‚” Ramaphosa’s lawyers argue in heads of argument submitted prior to the first hearing of Moyane’s misconduct inquiry‚ taking place on Saturday.

“Instead‚ Mr Moyane seeks to turn sound disciplinary procedure on its head by refusing to answer to the substance of the allegations against him until his technical points have been determined.

“In so doing‚ Mr Moyane is effectively sabotaging the speedy conclusion of his disciplinary inquiry.”

Lawyers for the Presidency have also sought to challenge Moyane’s argument that there is no real case against him‚ and revealed the names of five other witnesses who will provide evidence to his misconduct inquiry.

These include Helgaard Lombard‚ the Sars employee who Moyane stands accused of instructing “to feign illness to avoid attending an interview scheduled with KPMG pursuant to its investigation into the Sars High Risk Investigative Unit”.

Ramaphosa’s lawyers have accused the former commissioner of trying to set the terms for his own disciplinary inquiry.