Former acting SARS chief operations officer Jonas Makwakwa says he wants to testify before the commission of inquiry into the tax body because he watched “lies being told to the innocent citizens of our country”.

“It is my obligation to share the other side of the untold truth about what has been and [is] at play within SARS,” Makwakwa said in a letter to retired Judge Robert Nugent.

“I cannot allow the country being deceived by a few individuals for their self-interest, and waste of the country’s resources for ulterior motives.

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“I want to be given an opportunity for the right of reply and to tell the real truth, not the rehearsed orchestra that the country is subjected to now,” the letter reads.

Makwakwa has requested to testify during the next sitting in August.

The letter comes after Makwakwa’s conduct at the revenue service formed the focus of hearings on Thursday.

The SARS inquiry heard that Makwakwa actively tried to interfere with the tax matters of high-profile or VIP taxpayers – to the indignation of other tax officials, who claimed he had “no business” instructing individuals how to deal with these matters.

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Fin24 earlier reported that Makwakwa allegedly contacted then-acting chief officer for strategy, enabling and communications, Makungu Mthebule, on a number of occasions to instruct her to deal with high-profile individuals’ tax matters in a certain way – and also made numerous requests to staff in the VIP tax unit for information relating to certain taxpayers.

Mthebule instructed her staff to refuse – and herself refused to comply with Makwakwa’s “instructions”.