Hawks boss fighting tax battle with SARS

While the Hawks have been investigating Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and former SARS officials for their roles in the alleged ‘rogue’ investigative unit, the head of the Hawks is fighting his own battles with the tax man, claims a News24 report. It says that in March, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) handed down a default judgment against Hawks boss Lieutenant-General Berning Mthandazo Ntlemeza. The judgment related to ‘income tax’ to the value of R131 055 that Ntlemeza appeared to owe SARS, according to court papers. News24 says it established that the court file related to the judgment appeared to be missing. When the file was requested at the court, an archive official wrote ‘no file’ on the official request form. Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi refused to process queries relating to issues of a ‘personal nature’. ‘You guys in the media are just trying to take him (Ntlemeza) down. Every single day there is something new in the media about the general,’ Mulaudzi said. Ntlemeza reportedly did not respond to efforts to contact him. Corruption Watch head David Lewis said it was not desirable for the head of the Hawks to have such a judgment against him. ‘It is particularly disconcerting given the role the Hawks are playing in relation to the various ongoing issues around SARS, including the probe into the alleged rogue unit.’