In a High Court of South Africa judgment, delivered on 23 March
2020 by Judge J. Mabusa, in the case of CSARS v Public
Protector and Others, it was ordered that the South African
Revenue Service (“SARS”) was permitted
to withhold taxpayer information from the Public Protector. The
Public Protector's subpoena powers do not entitle it access
to taxpayer information relating to former President
Jacob Zuma in contravention of SARS' obligation to keep
taxpayer information confidential as required in terms of section
69(1) of the Tax Administration Act, 2011
(“TAA”).
The essence of the matter was whether SARS was permitted, under
the provision of “just cause” contained in section
11(3) of the Public Protector Act, 1994
(“PPA”) read with section 69(1) of the
TAA, to withhold taxpayer information and that the Public
Protector's subpoena powers do not extend to access to
taxpayer information.
