Cape Town - EFF leader Julius Malema has accused the SA Revenue Service of placing him under surveillance 10 years ago when he asked its top officials about the existence of the so-called rogue unit.
This was revealed by Malema as he reiterated his rejection of the decision by National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi to drop charges against the officials who were implicated in setting up and running the unit.
Malema was addressing the Press Club of SA in Cape Town on Friday where he also deliberated on the State of the Nation Address.
“I was the first person to report the rogue unit in this country in 2010. I went to the Sars offices and I met (former Sars deputy commissioner Ivan) Pillay and (former Sars commissioner) Oupa Magushule and gave them a document which was dropped in my office about the rogue unit.
“They followed me in 2010. When I booked a room in Hilton Hotel, they would book in next door and put devices to listen to my activities in the other room,” Malema said.
Malema accused the former Sars officials of following everyone who was supporting former president Jacob Zuma at the time.
“Zuma investigated and found out that there was a rogue unit. Zuma, in his typical way, instead of dismantling it and making sure that these people were prosecuted, he inherited the rogue unit and it continued with its illegal activities,” Malema said.
He said Zuma had used the unit to pursue his own political enemies.
Malema said the EFF would fight against the dropping of the charges against the Sars officials.
“We are reviewing the matter. A letter has been written to Batohi as we speak. We asked her to give us the reasons why she dropped the charges. The case is ripe. The witnesses are there. They have been interviewed. The investigators of this rogue unit case about their case. When we announced that we are reviewing this case they said ‘we are more than willing to help the leadership of the EFF to pursue this case because we have got the facts’,” he said.