JOHANNESBURG – THE Small Business Institute (SBI) has rejected the resignation by board member, Ivan Pillay, who has been slapped with criminal charges alongside his former colleagues at the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

A statement issued by Siki Mgabadeli, SBI Communications Director, indicated One of the principle values of the SBI is to support and foster ethical business practices.

“As such, we would normally accept Mr Pillay’s, or any director’s, resignation who faced criminal charges,” SBI stated.

“However, in the continuing political climate of diversion, retribution, and gaslighting, we question the motives of the National Prosecutions Authority Chief (Shaun) Abrahams; recoil from the absence of due process; and note Mr Pillay’s well-documented record as a committed public servant who helped bring white-collar criminals to book while at SARS, saving hundreds of millions of taxpayer rands.”

SBI said Pillay’s current endeavor for the SBI and South Africa’s small businesses, examining where government red tape is “strangling” entrepreneurial endeavor, was “extremely” valuable.

“We hope he will see fit to continue this work, we do not expect the claims against him to be substantiated and we will support him until the unlikely event they are.”

The case of alleged  of corruption against Pillay, Johann van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg was postponed in the Pretoria Magistrate’s on Monday until June 18.
– Guardian