The man who ran Telkom for 8 years never filed 85 tax returns. A court just convicted him

85 counts.

That is how many times a court says Sipho Maseko broke the tax rules. Maseko ran Telkom, one of South Africa's biggest phone companies, for about eight years. Recently the Palm Ridge magistrate's court convicted him for failing to submit tax returns.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced the conviction on Friday 9 October 2026, according to TimesLIVE. The fine was R85,000.

Do the sum. That is R1,000 for every unfiled return.

Which companies did Sipho Maseko fail to file returns for?

Not Telkom. The charges are about five other companies where the state says he was a director.

Maseko joined Telkom on 1 April 2013 and left as group CEO at the end of 2021, when Serame Taukobong took over. The companies in this case are a different group of businesses.

They are One Fountain Properties, One Fountain Industries, One Fountain Capital, Afrifund Advisory Services and Afrifund Investments. All five are private companies, according to the NPA's list.

The state also said another man, Sonwabo Mtshazo, was a director of the same five companies. The reports do not say whether he was charged.

What exactly was he convicted of?

The charge is section 234(2)(d) of the Tax Administration Act. In plain words, it is a crime for a person in charge of a company to fail to submit the tax returns the law demands.

The 85 counts cover three kinds of return:

The NPA says the returns were not submitted on behalf of the five companies. State advocate Athenkosi Mancoba argued that the failures "hampers" the South African Revenue Service in fulfilling its mandate to administer tax effectively and collect revenue.

Photo: Pieter-ZA / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

How did a R85,000 fine cover 85 counts?

This is the part that makes people look twice. The NPA says an admission-of-guilt fine of R85,000 was paid on behalf of the entities.

An admission of guilt is a fast route. The accused pays a fine, the case is closed and a conviction is recorded. There is no long trial.

Here is the maths for the whole case.

NPA spokesperson Magaboke Mohlatlole said the companies have since submitted all the outstanding returns. That means SARS can now assess them, work out what tax is owed and collect it.

The fine is not the tax. It is the price of the missing paperwork. Whatever the five companies owe is a separate bill.

The NPA has not said how much that bill is. It only says the returns are now in and SARS can do its sums.

How did the case start?

Mohlatlole said a case was opened in September 2025. He said it was not a joint investigation and that no tip-off was received.

So the NPA does not say anyone reported Maseko. It says the case was opened and run through the courts, and a year later it ended in a conviction.

The NPA welcomed the result. It said the conviction "reinforced the importance of complying with tax legislation".

What is Project Honey Badger?

The case is part of a government drive called Project Honey Badger. It is led by the NPA, SARS and the Hawks, the police's serious crimes unit.

Its job is to take people to court when they or their companies do not meet their tax duties. The name is a hint. A honey badger does not let go.

The message from the NPA is plain. A big name or a big job title does not move you to the back of the queue. The same list of 85 counts could land on anyone who runs a company and lets the returns pile up.

Photo: Olga Ernst / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Where does Telkom fit into this?

It does not. Telkom is not part of this case, and nothing in the report suggests Telkom missed a return. The conviction is about the other five companies.

The TimesLIVE report carried no statement from SARS or from Maseko. We have not seen a response from him.

What does the same mistake cost an ordinary taxpayer?

Maseko's case is a criminal one, and it is about companies. Ordinary people face a different kind of penalty if they miss the SARS deadline on Friday 23 October 2026.

SARS charges a fixed fee for every month a return stays outstanding. It comes from a table in section 211 of the Tax Administration Act and depends on your taxable income. We set out the full table in our SARS deadline guide.

Here is how it compares with the amount in this case.

Source: Tax Administration Act, section 211, as set out in our SARS guide. Maseko case figures from TimesLIVE and the NPA.

Look at the last row. A person on the highest income band who stays outstanding for 35 months faces R560,000. The Telkom case ended at R85,000 for 85 counts.

Nobody has said the two are linked. They are two different tracks, one criminal and one administrative.

Is R1,000 for each unfiled return really the price?

The NPA has named no other targets, and we will not guess any.

What it did give us is a number. R1,000 per count. If that becomes the going rate for a company boss who leaves the returns undone, then the cheapest line in anyone's budget may be the paperwork.

Or maybe the real price was never the fine. It was a Friday headline with the name of a man who once ran Telkom, sitting next to the word convicted.