SARS case: NPA ‘will not rush decision’

The National Prosecuting Authority has time to decide whether to file charges in the probe into the so-called rogue spy unit within SARS.

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Cape Town - The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday it had no deadline for taking a decision on whether to charge those implicated in the politically explosive probe into the so-called rogue spy unit within the South African Revenue Service.

“We have no timeline, we are not going to take a rushed decision,” said NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku.

“It will depend on the magnitude of the matter, whether there are hundreds of documents to look at. If there is a need for further investigation, we will call for further investigation.”

Mfaku confirmed that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) handed the case docket to the NPA on Friday, a day after former top SARS officials Ivan Pillay, Johann van Loggerenberg and Oupa Magashula were questioned by the elite unit.

It has been widely reported that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan would be arrested soon after he defied a summons to appear before the Hawks on the same day, instead issuing a statement to say charges against him were wholly unfounded.

Mfaku stressed that the NPA had not “taken a decision to prosecute anybody”.

In an interview with ANN7 on Monday, ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte called on Gordhan to co-operate with the Hawks, and said his stance created the impression that he considered himself above the law.

AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY