SARS
The South African Revenue Service and law enforcement agencies conducted a crackdown on members of a suspected coal smuggling syndicate, who are accused of a host of "tax crimes".
Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, said they are active in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Kwazulu Natal, and Free State, with SARS as the lead agency in the "search and seizure" operation on Thursday.
"The suspects targeted today include former Eskom employees who facilitated procurement fraud, as well as other individuals involved in the diversion of high-grade coal," he said in a statement.
Kieswetter says the success of the operation can be attributed to exceptional inter-governmental cooperation and information-sharing under the auspices of the NATJOINTS Energy Safety & Security Priority Committee.
It's been tasked with unmasking and bringing to book the criminals that have caused economic hardship and personal hardship to all citizens of the country.
Kieswetter says they suspect that the sophisticated network of coal smugglers includes local and foreign nationals.
"Coal trucks destined for power stations are diverted to designated coal yards where high-grade coal is replaced with low-grade or sub-standard product. The high-grade coal is then exported or sold to willing buyers. The low-grade coal is often blended with scrap or other materials and then delivered to power stations," he said.
He said the low-grade coal damages infrastructure at Eskom power stations, which is a major factor in crippling the power utility's ability to generate electricity for South Africa.
"It is because of such naked greed that the country has experienced unprecedented load shedding, which harms business, undermines foreign direct investment and leads to job losses all of which negatively affect revenue collection".
Kieswetter said all law enforcement agencies must continue their aggressive fight against criminality, while SARS will continue to pursue errant taxpayers without fear, favour, or prejudice.
