Limpopo government spokesperson in hot water after alleged tax evasion

The Limpopo government spokesperson has been slapped with charges relating to dodging the tax man that date back 10 years.

Ndavhe Ramakuela, provincial head of communication services, appeared before the Polokwane Commercial Crimes Court on Monday after he was summoned by law enforcement, facing charges of contravening the Tax Administration Act.

Ramakuela’s appearance in court on Monday comes at the time when he is answering questions to the media, as spokesperson, about another high ranking official from the same office who was also arrested recently for fraud.

Director of Labour Relations in the office of the premier, Michael Maseko, was arrested on a different matter.

In reports, the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) spokesperson, Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, said the embattled Ramakuela was accused of not submitting his income tax returns to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) for 10 years.

She said after being charged, he was released on bail.

“The spokesperson for the Premier’s Office, Ndavheliseni Ramakuela, has appeared in the Polokwane Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for contravening a section of the Tax Administration Act when he failed to submit personal income tax returns. It is alleged that between 2007 and 2017 he did not pay his personal income tax to Sars.”

Malabi-Dzhangi added that the matter had been postponed to June 6 for trial.

On a national radio station this morning(Tuesday), while speaking on another matter of a colleague who also appeared in court yesterday (Monday), Ramakuela said he could not comment on his court appearance, but referred questions to the Office of the Premier Chief of Staff, Willy Mosoma

Mosoma confirmed that there was a civil case against Ramakuela by Sars.

“Ramakuela has admitted to not filing his tax returns… In his testimony he accepted that he did not pay tax returns since 2008, which was corrected between 2017 and 2023. Mr Ramakuela was never arrested and documents at our disposal show that he is a taxpayer in good standing,” Mosoma said.

Meanwhile, the hawks confirmed that Maseko, who comes from the same office, appeared before the same court and was granted bail of R25 000 and his case postponed to April 29 for further police investigation.

Ramakuela, before his own appearance in court, had noted to the media the developments surrounding the arrest by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation Unit and court appearance of Maseko.

“The matter involving Mr Maseko is currently in court and the Office of the Premier will await the outcome or judgment from the court … It is important to note that the Office will not be making any comments on the case until the legal process has been completed. The Office remains committed to upholding integrity and transparency in all its operations,” Ramakuela had said.

Whistle-blower and NGO the Conty Lebepe Foundation had released a statement expressing concern at the recent developments in the Limpopo office of the premier.

“As if the allegations of Maseko were not enough, we woke up to shocking allegations by the provincial government spokesperson. This is concerning that they all come from the same office,” its national co-ordinator, Conty Lebepe, said.

Pretoria News

mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za