Sars serves taxi boss Bafana Sindane with R17m tax bill

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Sowetan understands that Sindane was served with the letter on Monday.

“They say he owes Sars for 16 years. He is busy with his auditors to deal with the matter,” a source told Sowetan.

SARS has served Mpumalanga taxi boss Bafana Sindane with a tax demand for R17 million.@Sowetan1981

The matter was raised in court on Tuesday when Sindane, Joe Sibanyoni, Mvimbi Masilela and Philemon Makhaya appeared in the Delmas magistrate’s court on charges of extortion and money-laundering.

When the magistrate asked if there were any matters outstanding, the prosecutor mentioned the Sars investigation.

However, Sindane’s lawyer Menzi Simelane objected to the matter being raised in court, arguing that the tax issue was separate from the criminal case before the court.

“The only reason the Sars issue was raised was to literally scandalise accused number five [Sindane]. Our submission is that that’s grossly unfair,” Simelane said.

He said it was unacceptable for the tax matter to have been raised during the proceedings. “Sars is not mentioned as something to be added on the charge sheet, and it shouldn’t have been mentioned at all,” he said.

Sindane is alleged to be part of a group in Mpumalanga that extorts money from local businesspeople in the form of “protection fees”.

He also made headlines for what his phone revealed at the Madlanga commission of inquiry. His WhatsApp messages showed Sindane had police officers “on call” who were willing to escort him whenever he wanted them to.

Sindane has not responded to the allegations.

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