COMPLAINT ABOUT SARS CUSTOMS

My name is Mr. Moses Melusi Mokoena, on the 16/12/2024 I was stopped by SARS customs Investigators ( Joshua Mo***eng and Nathi Nxumalo ) accompanied by Gauteng traffic wardens, their reason for stopping me was I am a South African driving a foreign registered vehicle, they asked for the blue book and I gave it to them, they said because the car is not in my name their impouding it, I was left on the side of the road with my family and the vehicle was driven by one of the wardens, I followed them to enquire what's happening and Joshua Mo***eng kept saying I must report to SARS edenvale the following day which I did, at the offices he then asked me about the vehicle, and I told him I am not the owner of the vehicle but it was landed to me to use, he asked me who crossed the boarder with the car, I told him it was me on the 4/10/2024 I crossed the Oshoek boarder with the car and the reason behind using the vehicle, he then asked for the owner of the vehicle to come to his office with the documents proving that he owns the car and he will release the vehicle directly to him, I drove to Eswatini to fetch the owner of the vehicle Mr. Sicalo Jeremiah Mdluli, on his arrival he further testified to the fact that he borrowed me the vehicle and he stated his reason why he borrowed me the vehicle and how he bought the vehicle, Mr Joshua then changed the story that he wanted to personally meet the owner however his not releasing the vehicle as the papers still shows the dealer as registered owner, the owner had to go back to eSwatini to try change the papers to his name however that was impossible as the laws of eSwatini wants to physically test the vehicle for roadworthy before any change can happen and it also allows the buyer to use the vehicle for 12 months before any change happen, letter from the dealership confirming Mr. Mdluli as the owner and invoice confirming Mr. Mdluli as a buyer of the vehicle were presented to Mr. Joshua but he still refused to release the car, his case is I need to be charged for not declaring the vehicle at customs and for driving a foreign vehicle on SA roads even if I had no insurable interest on the item, I have no problem with that as long as their fair on what they charging me for, my issue now I had to make follow up with customs for about 4-5 days to get a charge and it was given to me on email, I was charged a penalty fee of R1500 and a refundable fee of R20000.00 however I must find my own clearing agent and I still need to pay storage fee for the car , after several attempt to get an agent to assist no one was willing to help, several emails and messages sent to them without any response advising that no agent wants to assist on impounded vehicle, a case manager appointed by customs by the name of Fortune Sethole eventually answered my whatsup message with a agent I can use Zwide Freight, I called the agent and he quoted me almost R10000.00 to assist me, I then forwarded the invoice from Zwide freight to the case manager (Fortune) to try to understand why so much and to see if I can negotiate a better offer and he told me is either I pay what's charged or I find my own agent, he sincerely asked to communicate with him once I have followed all what's written on the letter ( basically I became a nuisance to him every time I asked questions .

What's sad in this matter a dispute was sent to the 2 gentlemen till to date no response, you call their office no one answers. I don't understand why the vehicle cannot be released to the owner even after all requested paper work was presented to SARS.

Another issue is I told them I have no financial interest on that vehicle why am I punished, I understand the declaring part but why the R20k, why must I pay clearing agents, why am I paying for storage fees where as SARS took the vehicle in Finetown and drove with it to Boksburg ( that's about 45- 60km) and they took 4-5 days to allocate file to the case manger after several attempt to get the process right by them they still failed to explain to me my charge. Now I am in a predicament where I have to pay almost R40k for a car I don't own and the owner wants his vehicle back and his willing to fetch it but Sars refuse to hand it to him, SARS is also not willing to come to the party on negotiating the payment terms even after I explained to them I recently started working I don't have such an amount, instead I was told why drive a BMW when broke now you gonna lose it. I feel I am treated unfairly on this matter as tax paying citizen even after I tried to obey their laws .

I have all the supporting docs and proof of communication with customs without any feedback.

Your assistant will be much appreciated on this matter.