Sars and IDAC’s landmark conviction sends strong message

IN A hard-hitting joint media statement released on December 9, 2025, the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), in collaboration with Sars, and other law-enforcement agencies, announced a significant legal victory: a six-year direct prison sentence (with two years suspended) for Tshepo Khoza, director of Grey Apple Trading Enterprise (Pty) Ltd, on multiple counts of fraud and tax evasion amounting to roughly R3.6 million.

- JASHWIN BAIJOO

Khoza’s company had received tenders from the South African Police Service (SAPS) under the DNA-project for its forensic science laboratory (FSL), tenders allegedly awarded because of his family ties to a senior SAPS official. Yet, between 2015 and 2018, despite earning substantial income from these contracts, Khoza declared his company dormant and failed to register for VAT or declare the revenue to Sars.

This verdict comes after protracted investigations under what's known as Project Blue Lights, and marks one of the clearest signals so far that the state means business when it comes to cracking down on procurement-related corruption and tax evasion!

More than fraud: it’s theft from the public

The leadership of both Sars and IDAC did not mince words. Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter framed tax fraud not as a victimless crime, but as direct theft from the national fiscus, and, by extension, from every South African who depends on government services for education, healthcare, and social support.

Sars is leveraging its powers under the Tax Administration Act (TAA), which provides for instances in which the Directors, Public Officers, or other representative taxpayers can be held personally liable for a company’s tax debt, as well as other forms of noncompliance. Section 180 of the TAA empowers Sars to hold third parties personally responsible for a company’s tax debt and other noncompliance if:

1. The person “controls or is regularly involved in the management of the overall financial affairs of a taxpayer”; and

2. Sars determines that the person acted negligently or fraudulently concerning the taxpayer’s tax debt.