
Former SARS deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay’s early retirement on full pension and instant re-employment was arguably not criminal, but it did amount to a devious scamming of state funds and flouted strict rules for state employees.
Nico Coetzee, a senior operational specialist in the Human Resources division of the SA Revenue Service, woke early on 9 October 2009 with something on his mind. At 5.57am he sent an email to recently appointed SARS Commissioner Oupa Magashula expressing his misgivings over deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay’s application for early retirement “to provide for his children’s education”. And on top of that, after his retirement Pillay wanted immediate reappointment to his job.
DOCUMENTATION
1. Nico Coetzee, SARS HR statement to Hawks, 14 September 2016.
2. Nico Coetzee, emails to Commissioner Oupa Magashula, 8 and 9 October 2009.
4. Susanna Visser, SARS HR, statement to Hawks, 10 August 2016.
5. Vlok Symington, SARS legal division, memo to Commissioner Pravin Gordhan, 17 March 2009.
6. Vlok Symington, Affidavit dated 20 October 2016 to the Nugent Commission..
7. Ivan Pillay, undated pre-May 2009 internal memo to Commissioner Pravin Gordhan.
8. Ivan Pillay, internal memo to Commissioner Oupa Magashula, 27 November 2009.
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