Sars clean up is an important victory after state capture years

ONE OF THE challenges of being a noisy democracy is that in our hunt for scandals, we often miss important victories, especially those that improve the lives of the working class.

- 

THE South African Revenue Service is a success, says Cosatu.

(SUPPLIED)

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) is one such success. It is being achieved through the relentless efforts of its staff.

Their remarkable achievements in rebuilding a government entity that was at the heart of the state capture project, is an affirmation that the state can be fixed and capacitated to fulfill its constitutional and transformational mandate.

Sars by its nature must alienate society’s corrupt and criminal elements. This is exactly what occurred during the state capture chapter where it irritated powerful politicians by insisting they pay their taxes.

This led to an intervention at Sars, purging staff and appointing dodgy elements. It saw the deliberate decapacitation of Sars and its ability to target criminals, the wealthy and illicit trade. Society and in particular the working class paid the price with a fiscus battling to provide the developmental public and municipal services they depend upon.

One of the enablers for the developmental and economic successes of Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki’s administrations, was the machinery put in place at Sars by the late Commissioner, Pravin Gordhan. This team enabled Sars to expand the tax base and improve revenue collection, thus allowing government to ease the tax burden upon the poor, invest in public services and the economy.

Whilst society, especially the working class, are correct to be impatient with the pace at which President Cyril Ramaphosas administrations have been able to overcome the chapter of state capture and exorcise the demons of corruption, we would do well to note the steady changes at Sars are laying the foundations to set South Africa back on the correct path.