BY GENEVIEVE QUINTAL |Timeslive|
Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has found that Pravin Gordhan acted improperly when he approved the early pension payout for former SA Revenue Service (Sars) senior official Ivan Pillay.
“The allegation that minister Gordhan irregularly approved the early retirement of Mr Ivan Pillay with full retirement benefits … is substantiated,” Mkhwebane said.
In her remedial action, the public protector instructed President Cyril Ramaphosa to take disciplinary action against Gordhan for “violating the constitution”.
The early pension payout was made during Gordhan’s first stint as finance minister. Oupa Magashula was Sars commissioner at the time.
A complaint was lodged with the public protector’s office in November 2016 alleging that Gordhan and Magashula had acted dishonestly with regard to public funds, which had resulted in Pillay receiving an improper advantage or being unjustifiably enriched at the expense of the taxpayer.
Mkhwebane said Pillay was not entitled to an early retirement payout.
