Sunday 05 July 2026 – Tax Justice SA has called on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to explain why Adriano Mazzotti appears never to have faced criminal prosecution despite confessing to tobacco smuggling, tax evasion, unlawful surveillance and attempts to corrupt SARS officials.
The Madlanga Commission heard on Friday that Mazzotti’s admissions formed part of a confidential 2014 settlement with the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
In an affidavit presented to the Commission, Mazzotti admitted to unlawful tobacco imports, manufacturing cigarettes “off the books”, conducting illegal surveillance of SARS officials and paying R800,000 in cash to a legal adviser believed to have influence over SARS officials.
Tax Justice SA founder Yusuf Abramjee says South Africans deserve answers.
“The NPA must address one simple but very crucial question,” he said. “If someone admits to serious crimes involving tax fraud, illicit tobacco trading and attempts to corrupt public officials, why was there apparently no criminal prosecution?
“It is common practice to settle a tax debt. But can South Africans now settle their way out of crime?
“A tax settlement is meant to recover money owed to the fiscus. It should never become a substitute for criminal accountability. If admissions of this scale do not lead to prosecution, public confidence in the justice system is badly damaged and organised crime is allowed to run amok.”
The Commission has also heard evidence of a close relationship between Carnilinx director Mohamed Sayed and suspended Crime Intelligence Major-General Feroz Khan, who survived an apparent assassination attempt last week before he was due to testify.
WhatsApp exchanges placed before the Commission appear to discuss illicit tobacco investigations and reveal an unusually close relationship between the two men.
Abramjee said the latest evidence reinforced long-standing concerns that organised crime may have enjoyed protection from within parts of the criminal justice system.
Corruption Watch has questioned why no criminal prosecutions have followed major investigations by SARS, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the South African Reserve Bank and other state agencies into an alleged tobacco and gold smuggling network centred on Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation and businessman Simon Rudland.
According to Corruption Watch, investigators linked the alleged network to about R8.2 billion in unpaid tax and referred more than 100 individuals and entities to the Hawks and the NPA for investigation.
However, no criminal charges have been laid against Rudland or others in connection with those allegations of illicit tobacco trading, gold smuggling, money laundering, tax fraud and billions of rand flowing offshore.
“South Africans are seeing a worrying pattern,” said Abramjee. “On one hand we have Mr Mazzotti’s admissions of serious criminal conduct that apparently resulted in no prosecution. On the other we have years of investigations, allegations involving R8.2 billion in unpaid tax and referrals by multiple state agencies, yet still no criminal charges.
“The NPA owes the public an explanation. If there is not enough evidence to prosecute, it should say so. If there is, South Africans deserve to know why these cases have not reached a courtroom.
“Nobody should be above the law. Justice cannot depend on wealth, influence or political connections.”
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