Tom Moyane

Tom Moyane was appointed Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in September 2014 by Jacob Zuma, displacing a succession of career officials who had built SARS into what international observers called a “model state institution”. His appointment and the subsequent engagement of management consultants Bain & Company — whom the Nugent Commission would later describe as a “foregone conclusion” once Moyane took office — marked the beginning of a systematic dismantling of SARS’s governance capacity, investigative function, and institutional independence.

The capture of SARS: The Zondo Commission found that Bain colluded with Zuma to design “a planned and co-ordinated agenda to seize and restructure SARS” before Moyane had even arrived. The mechanism: Jonas Makwakwa, Moyane’s ally who was promoted to Chief Operations Officer, shared confidential SARS documents with Bain representatives prior to Moyane’s appointment. Once in office, Moyane “dismantled the elements of governance one by one” (Nugent Commission), drove out or marginalised senior management and replaced them with compliant officials, and “engendered a culture of fear and intimidation” that hollowed out enforcement. The Nugent Commission concluded: “SARS was seized as if it was [Moyane’s] to have.” During his tenure, SARS’s capacity for investigating corruption was deliberately disabled. The Gupta Family exploited this vacuum: SARS under Moyane was found to have illegally paid Gupta-linked entities over R400m in tax refunds — one tranche, involving Oakbay entities, was estimated at approximately R240m.

The “rogue unit” narrative: Moyane and his allies constructed a campaign against SARS’s High Risk Investigation Unit (HRIU), led by Johann van Loggerenberg, labelling it a “rogue unit” conducting unauthorised surveillance. The Zondo Commission found this narrative was a deliberate ruse to discredit legitimate investigators and force out the officials most likely to identify and prosecute state capture actors — including corruption implicating Zuma himself. Van Loggerenberg and other senior SARS officials resigned under pressure or were constructively dismissed. Long-term COO Barry Hore resigned rather than facilitate Bain’s restructuring.

Dismissal, inquiry findings, and accountability gap: President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed Moyane in June 2018, following the interim findings of the Nugent Commission, which he had established in May 2018. The final Nugent report (December 2018) found that Bain’s fees — over R160m under irregular confinement contracts — were repaid with interest (R217m total). The Zondo Commission (2022) recommended that Moyane face perjury charges based on testimony it found “could not be trusted”, and that the US Department of Justice investigate Bain under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. As of April 2026, no perjury charges have been laid against Moyane, and the broader accountability for the estimated R1.5–R2bn damage to South Africa’s tax collection capacity has not materialised.

Connections

• Jacob Zuma — appointed Moyane SARS Commissioner 2014; Zondo: pre-planned collusion between Zuma, Bain, and Moyane
• Bain & Company — appointed as SARS restructuring consultants; described as “foregone conclusion”; earned R160m+ on irregular contracts; Zondo recommended US DOJ investigation
• Gupta Family — SARS enforcement disabled under Moyane; Gupta entities received R400m+ in irregular tax refunds
• Zondo Commission — SARS Vol 1; Moyane’s evidence “could not be trusted”; perjury charges recommended; not yet actioned
• National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) — perjury referral pending; no charges as of April 2026
• Cyril Ramaphosa — dismissed Moyane June 2018; appointed Nugent Commission May 2018
• Pravin Gordhan — former SARS Commissioner 1999–2009 who built the institution; “rogue unit” narrative used to implicate him in manufactured scandal
• Bosasa (African Global Operations) — Bosasa also operated with impunity during Moyane era; SARS enforcement gap benefited multiple state-capture actors

Sources

• Daily Maverick: Five revelations by the State Capture Commission on SARS (2022)
• Moneyweb: Bain, Zuma and Moyane colluded to seize and restructure SARS
• Corruption Watch: Zondo calls for public appointment process for future SARS heads
• Open Secrets: Unaccountable 00021 — Bain and Company, the KGB of Consulting