Oupa Magashula.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) says a tape recording in which Sars commissioner Oupa Magashula appears to offer a job to an associate of a convicted drug dealer reveals nothing scandalous, the City Press reported on Sunday.
"Sars has no reason to doubt the integrity of the Sars commissioner in either his professional or private life," Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay told the Sunday paper.
Lackay confirmed the authenticity of the recording in which Magashula – together with convicted drug dealer, Panganathan Marimuthu – allegedly offer a woman a job at Sars.
Lackay said Marimuthu had cornered Magashula at a restaurant and asked him to speak to a friend on a phone.
The commissioner did not know the conversation was being recorded.
In a transcript of the recording published in City Press, Magashula tells the woman that Sars pays very well and offers a variety of experiences.
"My brother Timmy [Marimuthu] here says we can even find you a husband," Magashula says according to the transcript.
'Questionable activities by various persons'
He also tells her that since she is 28, she should be earning a million rand.
"You should be having your own seaside apartment."
Lackay told the City Press that the woman spoken to on the recording was never given a job at Sars.
The Sars spokesperson said the recording was being used for "questionable activities by various persons".
Marimuthu was convicted of dealing in Mandrax in 1992. – Sapa