WATCH: Jacob Zuma Foundation threatens legal action as regulator orders release of tax records

The Jacob Zuma Foundation is warning that it will pursue legal action should the former president's tax records be made public.

This follows last week’s announcement by the Information Regulator of South Africa (IRSA), which ordered SARS (South African Revenue Service) to hand over Zuma’s tax information.

amaBhungane's Caroline James says the move is unprecedented, but welcome.

It has taken a very long time to get here, she says, since 2019.

James explains that seven years ago amaBhungane applied to SARS to release Zuma's tax details.

The application was refused, and what followed was a lengthy litigation process, which saw the case, eventually, before the Constitutional Court.

"[The ConCourt] ruled there has to be an exception for public interest. We then had to go back to SARS and make another application."

SARS refused again on the basis that there was no evidence, it said, that Zuma had committed any offences, a requirement of a public interest disclosure.

amaBhungane then pursued another course of action via the Information Regulator of South Africa (IRSA), which assesses refusals of information requests.

"The regulator said it was very clear that the documents, the tax records and various information around his tax affairs, would reveal that Jacob Zuma had contravened the tax laws," says James.

Additionally, she says, the IRSA found that the disclosure of the documents would reveal that SARS also violated its obligations.

"The Regulator described it as a 'soft approach' that SARS took with President Zuma."

While tax records in South Africa are confidential and protected under Chapter 6 of the Tax Administration Act 2011, this confidentiality is not absolute, and the 2023 case of Arena Holdings v SARS established a 'public interest override' provision under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).

To watch Amabhungane's Caroline James in conversation with CapeTalk's John Maytham, click below: