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Cape Town - Kosie Louw, a former deputy head of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the longest-serving member of the Sars executive committee, has resigned.
Fin24 has learnt that Louw informed Sars commissioner Tom Moyane last week that he would be leaving the taxman at the end of February next year.
When Louw (63) reached retirement age three years ago, he was persuaded to remain as a consultant in the position of chief officer: legal and policy.
Louw was recently in the news when he sent an email from Moyane to Vlok Symington, deputy director of law who reports to Louw. The email included questions from prosecutor Torie Pretorius about the aborted prosecution of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Moyane erroneously attached an email from Sars’ lawyer David Maphakela to the email from Pretorius. In the email message, Maphakela declines to assist Moyane with the Gordhan matter because of “ethical reasons”.
WATCH: Gridlock between Sars senior and Hawks staff
Moyane’s bodyguard Thabo Titi and Hawks officials confronted Symington and forced him to hand over printouts of the emails he received from Louw. Symington has since laid a complaint with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) about, what he calls, his “hostage” situation.
According to sources in Sars, Louw’s resignation is “directly linked” to the Symington incident, but this is denied by Louw who says he decided to step down after finishing his second term as chairperson of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
He could have stayed on until September 2017 but decided to leave in February, Louw told Fin24. Louw joined Sars in 1970.
ALSO READ: Sars ‘hostage drama’: Leading Gordhan investigator being probed
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