The SA Revenue Service (SARS) has dragged Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya to the Johannesburg High Court, demanding that he pays the revenue collector R3 million he owes it.
According to the court documents seen by City Press, which were filed in the Johannesburg High Court on 5 May 2023, Lebeya failed to pay his tax debt. The SARS letter, which is attached to the court documents reads:
According to the records of the SA Revenue Service (SARS), you have failed to pay your tax debt for one or more tax year(s) and/or tax period(s). Overdue amount: R3 114 090.75 on the latest account statement balance. You are requested to make full payment within 10 business days from the date of this letter of demand. You may within 10 business days from the date of this letter of demand apply for any of the following remedies: payment in instalments where you are unable to pay the full amount.
The letter also states that Lebeya’s debt could be suspended if he intended to submit or had submitted a formal dispute. SARS threatened Lebeya with sequestration or obtaining a warrant of execution.
The letter adds:
Failure to make full payment or use the above remedies may result ii the following actions and possibly others…A civil judgment is being entered against you in which case a warrant of execution may be issued for the sheriff of the court to attach and sell year assets.
The tax collector also told Lebeya that it intended to add interest on the amount owed.
Meanwhile, new questions have arisen over when the 62-year-old is going to retire. Forensic investigator Paul O’Sullivan has called on Lebeya to be suspended until his tax issues are sorted out. O’Sullivan has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, asking him to suspend Lebeya until he is issued with a new security clearance .
O’Sullivan, in a letter to Ramaphosa dated 8 January 2024, said since the Hawks are responsible for law enforcement in high profile matters, it was inconceivable that Lebeya should retain his security clearance, until he dealt with the SARS issue.
He added: “Not least because he has personally [publicly] commented in the media on certain high value tax fraud cases. Moreover, in January last year, general Lebeya was the signatory, together with Edward Kieswetter, of a joint accord aimed at reducing white collar crime.”
O’Sullivan also raised the issue of Lebeya’s age saying the Hawks boss was appointed on 24 May 2018 and was now 62, “meaning he is too old to have been appointed in the first place”.
He said if MPs had applied their minds, they would have realised that his appointment would take him past his 64th birthday and would therefore have required Parliament’s approval, which could not lawfully have been done retrospectively. Lebeya was born in 1962.
He wrote: “The Act is specific that the Hawks appointment must be for a period of not less than seven years, nor more than ten years. Seven years from 24 May 2018, will bring us to 23 May 2025, at which to me Lebeya would be at the age of 64 years. That age is part of the problem, [but not the whole problem] as it means he would have been obliged to retire before the end of seven years, meaning his appointment was unlawful…”
This is not the first time Lebeya’s age has come up. In 2022, the Public Service Commission launched an investigation into allegations that Lebeya was occupying his office illegally as he has reached retirement age. The commission’s investigation was triggered by a whistleblowing letter addressed to the police’s human resources head Lieutenant General Francinah Vuma in November 2021.
The letter was written by former Gauteng Hawks boss Prince Mokotedi but it is not clear what the outcome of that investigation was since Lebeya remains in his position. In terms of the SA Police Service Act 68 of 1995, the retirement age is 60. The presidency was approached for comment on why Lebeya was still in the job but had not responded at the time of publishing.
Attempts to reach Lebeya on both his cellphones were fruitless. This story will be updated once his comment has been obtained.
© News24