Pillay presents himself at Hawks HQ over 'Sars Wars' probe

Protesters under the banner of Right2Know have gathered outside the Hawks headquarters in Pretoria as the war against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan became “hot”.

For months‚ Gordhan has defiantly staved off a Hawks investigation into an alleged rogue intelligence-gathering unit at the South African Revenue Service (Sars).

The unit was established while Gordhan was the Sars commissioner.

Among those accused of alleged illegal activities‚ in what has come to be known as “Sars Wars”‚ are former Sars officials Ivan Pillay and Johann van Loggerenberg.

The unit was allegedly used for covert operations.

As R2K supporters sang outside the Hawks office‚ Pillay arrived to an audience of smiling supporters‚ who also included members of Freedom Under Law‚ Section27 and the Helen Suzman Foundation.

While Pillay had arrived to give a warning statement‚ Van Loggerenberg had yet to‚ and Gordhan on Wednesday indicated he would not as he had far more pressing and important issues to deal with. – Tiso Black Star Group Digital/The Times