Durban - The South African Revenue Service (Sars) announced that it had settled the labour dispute with and reinstated two former employees who were affected during a restructuring process in 2015.
In a statement on Tuesday, Sars said Hope Mashilo and Tshebeletso Seremane were reinstated with effect from September 1, 2022.
“This marks a further milestone in reversing and repairing the adverse effects of the capture of Sars and its journey to rebuilding public confidence and trust,” said Sars.
Sars acknowledged the harm caused to Mashilo and Seremane in 2015, when their positions were downgraded as a result of the “infamous Bain and Co restructuring process”.
“Their repeated requests for information fell on deaf ears and when they refused to take up those positions, it led to their dismissal ‘due to operational requirements’ in terms of s 189 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (the LRA), as amended,” it said.
Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said: “This is a complex matter and involves the interests of two former employees who were adversely affected by the actions of a Sars leadership intent on capturing Sars.”
The commissioner acknowledged that Sars’s actions at the time had a devastating and profound impact on the lives of Mashilo and Seremane and their families.
“Sars deeply regrets the hurt, pain and suffering visited on them and their families. I sincerely hope that with the conclusion of this process, the affected individuals and their families may experience a sense of closure and continue their own journey to healing and restoration,” said Kieswetter.
Kieswetter said as current commissioner and chief executive of Sars, he had a fiduciary duty to safeguard the integrity of the institution and the moral and legal obligation to reverse the adverse effects of the capture of Sars.
“It remains imperative that the process we follow has integrity, allows for restorative justice and healing, as well as initiates and sustain Sars’s journey to rebuilding public confidence and trust.
“In this particular matter, I had to balance carefully the interests of the affected individuals to bring them back to Sars with dignity, whilst at the same time, protect the institution and sustain what it stands for as a strategic national asset,” he said
Kieswetter said he was beholden to nobody and defends the institution and not the individuals who captured it.
“Sars and I will continue to do so and execute the Sars mandate without fear, prejudice and bias.,” he said.