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THE South African Revenue Service (SARS) on Tuesday defended commissioner Tom Moyane’s decision to restructure the agency and distanced him from investigations into an alleged rogue unit.

In a detailed statement SARS sought to address a slew of claims made against it, many of which fuelled a public dispute between Mr Moyane and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

After the Hawks sent Mr Gordhan 27 questions on the unit, Mr Gordhan gave President Jacob Zuma an ultimatum — that Mr Moyane had to go or he would.

The SARS "clarification" followed similar statements by Mr Zuma and the Hawks on Monday. Though Mr Zuma indicated that Mr Gordhan’s job was not in jeopardy, he said he would not intervene to halt the Hawks probe and he would not summarily dismiss Mr Moyane.

The Hawks said it was investigating the rogue unit, not Mr Gordhan "per se".

Shortly after being reappointed to the position of finance minister, Mr Gordhan asked Mr Moyane to halt a far-reaching restructuring process he had started until the minister had time to assess its effect. Mr Moyane, however, continued with the process, arguing that he had got approval from former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene.

A criticism was that the revamp saw the collapse of the large business centre, which catered for top listed companies.

SARS said on Tuesday that the unit had not been collapsed but strengthened.

It defended the restructuring, saying the decision to adopt a new operating model was taken by Ivan Pillay, former acting commissioner, and endorsed by Parliament. Mr Moyane implemented the plan in consultation with Mr Nene, organised labour and the SARS advisory board, it said. Criticisms were "unfortunate" and part of a "deliberate attempt to discredit SARS and the commissioner".

Its investigation into the rogue unit was started by Mr Pillay in 2014, before Mr Moyane’s appointment. Mr Moyane appointed KPMG to do a forensic investigation after Muzi Sikhakhane — who had been appointed by Mr Pillay — recommended further investigation. The KPMG report has been contentious after it was leaked and Mr Gordhan said he had not been interviewed for it. Mr Moyane put "major controls" in place to "curb information leaks" — a matter about which Mr Gordhan has been unhappy.

The agency also took a swipe at former finance minister Trevor Manuel for saying on Friday that he would have fired Mr Moyane, saying the president appointed the SARS commissioner. The dispute has divided the African National Congress, with secretary-general Gwede Mantashe criticising SARS and the Hawks.