A Gqeberha businessman linked to false VAT claims of about R4.7 million will not go to prison directly. A court gave him suspended sentences and ordered him to repay SARS more than R1.2 million.
Sipho Christian Tys, 54, and his construction company, Lisolanele Trading Enterprises CC, were sentenced on Friday. The case was heard in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Gqeberha.
The sentence followed a Hawks investigation into fake Value-Added Tax claims. Tys faced charges of fraud, forgery and breaking the Tax Administration Act.
“During the investigation, invoices and other documents submitted to SARS through its eFiling platform were found to have been fabricated,” Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said.
Mhlakuvana said the case came from false VAT returns sent in between 2015 and 2017. Fake supporting papers were used to back up claims worth millions of rand, Mhlakuvana said.
SARS first picked up problems in the documents. It then sent the matter to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team to look into it further.
The probe led to the arrest of Tys in 2023. His company was also charged at that time.
Tys and the company were released on bail of R2,000. They appeared in court many times before the sentencing.
For fraud and forgery, Tys was sentenced to eight years in prison. The full term was suspended for five years.
The condition is that he must not be convicted of fraud or forgery committed during those five years.
He also received three more years in prison for breaking the Tax Administration Act. This term was also fully suspended for five years.
For that sentence, Tys must not be convicted of failing to submit income tax returns during the five years.
The company, Lisolanele Trading Enterprises CC, was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud and forgery. This was fully suspended for five years, on condition that it commits no further fraud or forgery.
The company also got a three-year suspended sentence for breaking the Tax Administration Act. It must not be convicted of failing to submit income tax returns in the same period.
The court ordered Tys to pay back more than R1.2 million to SARS.
According to the sentencing order, he must make a first payment of R20,000 by 1 December 2026. After that, he must pay R20,000 every month.
The order says a last payment of R18,061.58 is due by 1 November 2031.
Because the sentences are suspended, Tys and his company must follow the court’s conditions. If they break them, they could be made to serve the prison terms.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.