Gigaba asks Zuma to establish inquiry into Sars

"The President has acceded to my request, the commissioner of Sars has been informed and he is fully supportive of the process and he is willing to co-operate," Gigaba said in a media briefing after addressing South African Airways staff members.

He said the inquiry would be established soon and the details would be released in due course including the terms of reference, the time frame of the inquiry as well as the judge who will preside over it.

"We expect this inquiry to be constructive [and to] strengthen the institution where possible. The inquiry will also help to assess " what steps need to be taken in order to improve performance management systems".

The Treasury announced a R50bn revenue shortfall, wider than economists expected at the medium-term budget policy statement in October.