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·      Tech entrepreneur, Harry Chakhala, was wrongly charged for tax evasion and lost his multi-million rand business empire ·      Sars has defied a court order to negotiate a settlement ·      Chakhala’s assets worth R20bn were confiscated without forfeiture orders and they are nowhere to be found ·      Chakhala won a court battle to overturn liquidation of his company, HR Computek (Pty) Ltd

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Sizwe sama Yende

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A tech entrepreneur has succeeded in stopping the liquidation of his company – paving his way to continue with a R120.7 billion lawsuit against the state.

Harry Chakhala, the owner of HR Computek (Pty) Ltd, has been at loggerheads with the South African Revenue Services (Sars) since 2003.

Since then, Chakhala has been charged on 178 tax evasion related charges that saw him being put in custody for 465 days over a period of 15 years, and making more than 400 appearances in the Commercial Crimes, Regional and High courts.

Although the businessman has managed to clear his name by winning all the court cases he faced, he has remained frozen out of business because SARS has defied a 14 August 2018 Pretoria High Court order by Judge Selby Baqwa to negotiate a settlement with him.

Chakhala believes that SARS had pinned its hope on a successful liquidation application to escape paying the settlement. Unfortunately, they failed.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed an application by Dr Waa Gouws (Pty) Ltd on July 15 to overturn an order issued by the Gauteng Division of the High Court in July 2021 that saved HR Computek (Pty) Ltd from being liquidated.

Dr Waa Gouws director Yolandi Ann Mes had approached the High Court and was granted the liquidation order on 06 January 2020 after HR Computek had failed to pay a debt it owed due to Chakhala facing multiple criminal charges.

In July 2021, HR Computek successfully applied for rescission of the liquidation application because, firstly, it did not receive Dr Waa Gouws’s application, and, secondly, raised an issue about fraudulent misrepresentation by the applicant.

The SCA ruled that a company retained its juristic personality after a winding-up order and its directors retained residual powers to apply for rescission of such order.

Dr Waa Gouws had argued that Chakhala had no legal standing to apply for the rescission and that only a liquidator or creditor could do so.

“They (SARS) thought that the liquidation would succeed and they would not have to pay what is due to me,” Chakhala said this week.

Attempts to get comment from SARS were unsuccessful. Written questions sent to spokesperson, Siphithi Sibeko, and Commissioner Edward Kieswetter’s 0ffice manager, Beatrix de Villiers, were not answered.

GENESIS OF THE MATTER

Chakhala’s woes started in 2003 when he questioned the integrity of a Sars’ bid process that awarded a R3.1 billion tender to the notorious Gupta family’s company, Sahara Computers.

He had re-submitted a bid for the tender to instal the e-filing software at Sars. HR Computek (Pty) Ltd had been awarded the tender previously at R800 million but the contract was cancelled in 2003 when former Sars commissioner, Pravin Gordhan, took over.

HR Computek then had to bid with other companies including Sahara Computers.

Chakhala said that he soon found himself under onslaught from state agencies such as the police and the National Prosecuting Authority and was burdened with a plethora of criminal charges.

The Johannesburg regional court convicted Chakhala on 90 tax-related charges – forgery and uttering – but he went to the Pretoria High Court and was successful in his application to get his conviction set aside for being irregular, unconstitutional and unfair on April 6 2018.

By the time Chakhala was cleared, all of his businesses had collapsed and he had lost astronomical amounts of money and assets.

Sars seized assets and money from Chakhala’s companies worth R20 billion without any forfeiture orders and its whereabouts are today unknown. The assets included a company BMW 3 series that disappeared.

Chakhala filed the suit against the Ministries of Finance, Justice and Correctional Services and Police  on March 30 2021 following his acquittal on the tax evasion charges and failure of finding an out of court settlement with the state.

“When I questioned the awarding of the tender to Sahara Computers, I got arrested and charged. I was accused of not paying taxes and suddenly all government departments blacklisted me because they said I did not pay taxes,” he said.

“I still don’t see logic in destroying a business because it does not pay tax. I went bankrupt because I was attending cases in three separate courts,” Chakhala said.

Being tied up in multiple court cases destroyed Chakhala’s new business pursuits and ventures in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Kenya.

The Department of Justice and Correctional Services, the police and National Treasury have also not responded to questions.

Chakhala has also asked for Parliament’s intervention, but former speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula responded on 07 February 2024: “Legal disputes are the preserve of the courts, and in terms of the doctrine of separation of powers, Parliament cannot encroach in the domain of the courts or executive.”

HIGH PROFILE ENTREPRENEUR

Chakhala is a chartered marketer with a Wits MBA. He is also a renowned IT expert and electrical & electronics engineer with patent inventions in mobile  technologies and high secure satellite systems.

Before getting embogged in the fight with Sars, he had been a  seasoned Group CEO for his companies and ventures in technology solutions, geothermal power generation, and project finance funding in South Africa and African states.

Chakala has also served the Department of Home Affairs as a technology advisor and on boards of private companies and state institutions.  He now mentors the youth.

THE CLAIM

While the state has been dawdling and trying to evade liability, Chakhala’s claim has been clocking up 15.5 % interest every month since 05 October 2018.

He is claiming for loss of future business, cancelled contracts, defamation, unlawful arrest, and malicious prosecution.

As of July this year, the values of Chakhala’s claims are as follows:

HR Computek: R102.4 billion                      

HR & Associates: R14.9 billion

Chakhala’s personal claim and his business partner Siyabonga Nqubuka’s claim: R3.5billion.     Nqubuka was also illegally arrested and detained.

 The average monthly interest of the total claim is approximately R1.6 billion.