The status quo remained unchanged this week at the beleaguered Alliance Fuel, and on Wednesday morning all of its depots were still closed, with the staff prohibited from doing any business. Alliance Fuel was closed by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) following a raid on 10 July.

Since their closure, Alliance Fuel has appointed TAYFIN Forensic and Investigative Auditors (Tayfin) to challenge SARS’s decision to stop the company from doing business.

The company’s offices and depots remained closed this week despite numerous court proceedings launched by Tayfin on behalf of Alliance Fuel. On Tuesday, 16 July, the company’s cases were to be argued in the High Court in Polokwane and in the High Court in Johannesburg on 17 July. Regarding the 16 July court proceedings, Mr Mahier Tayob of Tayfin said that the Alliance Fuel versus SARS cases were indeed heard in the High Court in Polokwane, but that judgement was reserved. He also added that their High Court cases in Johannesburg were postponed until Friday last week due to a constrained court roll.

On Tuesday, Tayob confirmed that their cases were heard in the High Court in Johannesburg on Friday, but that judgement in both cases was reserved.

“Prayer 1 [was for] SARS to release the application(s) that motivated the ex parte orders, which has since become moot considering that SARS capitulated. The entity is still entitled to seek costs against SARS for its initial refusal, which led to the urgent applications in part. Prayer 2 [was to] interdict further searches, considering that the warrant was date and time specific,” said Tayob regarding the nature of their court applications.

Tayob also confirmed on Tuesday that all Alliance Fuel depots remained closed. “The entity is imperilled considering the closure,” stated Tayob. Regarding this, Tayob said that the entity placed SARS on terms to have all their depots reopened by the close of business on Tuesday evening. SARS did not respond. “The entity will now approach the court to seek the necessary redress,” Tayob said on Wednesday morning.

As for the reason why SARS closed down the business, Tayob indicated last week that they would not respond to enquiries about this as the matter is sub judice.