Top investigator Johann van Loggerenberg is among senior former officials who have returned to SARS, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

His return – a decade after he was pushed out – forms part of a SARS drive to bring back senior staff driven out during state capture, reports News24.

Van Loggerenberg was forced out of the tax agency in early 2015 after being falsely accused of being part of a ‘rogue unit’, which courts later found never existed.

He has subsequently published four books about organised crime, the illicit tobacco trade and his work at SARS.

‘Many committed and hard-working professionals who were forced out (during) state capture have returned to SARS,’ said spokesperson Siphithi Sibeko yeserday, without naming any names.

SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter was asked about Van Loggerenberg’s possible return on Tuesday during a briefing before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance.

While Kieswetter did not mention Van Loggerenberg (or anyone else) by name, he confirmed the agency was bringing back ‘experienced SARS staff if we believe they can add value’.

‘At a senior executive level, we have brought back five such executives.’  He said returning senior staff went through vetting and disclosure processes.

According to News24, when Van Loggerenberg resigned from SARS after being placed on suspension by then-Commissioner Tom Moyane in 2015, he was the group executive: enforcement investigations at the High-risk Investigation Unit. He was also facing disciplinary action instituted by Moyane.

The Nugent Commission of Inquiry, which investigated SARS’ governance and administration failures, concluded that the agency’s leadership that took over in 2014 wanted to force Van Loggerenberg and colleagues out.

Before his resignation, he had been the subject of ‘relentless media articles humiliating him’, said Judge Robert Nugent.

Full News24 report