Alliance Fuel and SARS legal battle returns to lower court

MEYERTON - The ongoing legal dispute between Alliance Fuel and the South African Revenue Service has taken a new turn, with the battle returning to the magistrate’s court where everything began, as Alliance Fuel seeks to overturn a search warrant initially granted to SARS in July. Zoutpansberger reports the dispute stems from SARS’s raids on Alliance Fuel’s depots in Louis Trichardt and Meyerton, where SARS alleged illegal diesel blending, illegal fuel trading, including the unlawful removal of a SARS-approved tracer, the A1 marker, from diesel. Alliance Fuel initiated a reconsideration application on 23 October, aiming to nullify the original search warrant in the Louis Trichardt Magistrate’s Court. Previously, a partial victory in the Limpopo High Court barred SARS from using evidence seized from this depot, although similar attempts in Johannesburg High Court concerning the Meyerton site were dismissed due to non-compliance with legal notice requirements. With allegations of R3-billion in tax under-declarations, the case remains high-stakes, and a decision on the reconsideration application is pending.