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Cape Town – Veteran journalist Max du Preez said he stands by every single word he wrote in his column alleging that there is a top secret dossier in a safe at SA Revenue Services (Sars} headquarters.
"I did not expect the present Sars leadership to do anything else than deny the existence of this dossier," Du Preez told News24.
"I have been a journalist for more than thirty years and I have never had to apologise or correct any of the pieces I wrote. When I write about a sensitive matter such as this involving among others the president of the country, I make doubly sure that I’m not just reporting rumour or innuendo.
"I have no doubt that the truth will surface soon."
Both the SA Revenue Services and the Secret Security Agency have denied knowledge of the dossier, saying the allegations are "baseless".
Sars spokesperson Luther Lebelo told News24 that, as far as he knew, there was no such dossier.
Du Preez wrote in the column: "Several billions of rands are at stake and Zuma would be extremely embarrassed if the alleged dossier were to be acted upon. It could well open him up to prosecution himself and/or to a massive income tax bill – at least for evading donations tax."
He further writes that the documents came about during Pravin Gordhan’s reign at Sars and were eventually handed to the new commissioner, Tom Moyane.
"I was told that the minister of State Security and Zuma loyalist, David Mahlobo, had personally involved himself with the safeguarding of the dossier," Du Preez reports.
State Security spokesperson Brian Dube, however, also denied any knowledge of the dossier and said the department would "not comment on baseless allegations".
Among the Zuma associates that were investigated by the Sars controversial "rogue" unit were super-wealthy businessmen Thoshan Panday of KwaZulu-Natal and Jen Chih "Robert" Huang, a Taiwanese citizen operating in South Africa, Du Preez claims.
News requests for comment from the Presidency’s Bongani Majola were still unanswered by the time of publishing.
Read Du Preez’s full column here.
