Sars slaps Peet Viljoen with a R10m judgment as the controversial couple faces renewed mask scandal questions.
More drama has surfaced over controversial couple Peet and Melany Viljoen.
The pair, infamous for the Tammy Taylor Nails brand controversy in South Africa and the United States, now sees Peet face scrutiny over a tax judgment obtained by the SA Revenue Service (Sars) in November last year – and the couple’s role in the Digital Vibes mask saga that has not gone away.
Peet’s credit profile, provided to The Citizen via a source close to the matter, confirms he has an active tax judgment against him for more than R10 million. However, Viljoen dismissed the issue as a misunderstanding.
Sars slaps Peet Viljoen with a R10m judgment
“The tax judgment is an administrative error,” he said. “Sars acted prematurely. We have made submissions through our accountants and this will be rectified. There is no fraud, no missing funds and no outstanding tax debt once the corrections are done.”
Sars said while it cannot discuss taxpayer matters with a third party, “the taxpayer [in this case Viljoen] is advised to discuss their tax matters directly with a Sars agent”. The collector then suggested channels for Viljoen to get in touch.
Questions have also reemerged about the couple’s mask dealings during the Covid pandemic. In a TikTok video this week, Melany Viljoen accused the media, in particular The Citizen, of “twisting the story” and said there were “two completely different sponsorships”.
ALSO READ: Legal Practice Council investigating Peet Viljoen practising as an attorney
“We started by donating beautiful police branded masks to the Saps,” she said.
“Then Digital Vibes contacted us, saying they loved the masks and wanted to sponsor 100 0000 more for the police. That was not a donation. It was a paid order.”
Digital Vibes became notorious after the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) uncovered links between the company and senior government officials in a Covid communication scandal.
‘SIU cleared us of wrongdoing’
While Mel portrayed their involvement as charitable, Peet was matter-of-fact about the business side of the transaction. “They paid us and we delivered,” he said.
“The SIU cleared us of any wrongdoing. We also donated masks to the Saps, the president [Cyril Ramaphosa] and his staff. Everything was done in good faith.”
The Citizen has seen the Tammy Taylor pitch to sell the masks and the close to R5 million invoice for them. In the proposal, the pair claimed the nail business was a leading manufacturer of masks.
ALSO READ: Viljoens suing Tammy Taylor for $200m in trademark dispute
Viljoen later said Tammy Taylor South Africa manufactured its own masks for nail technicians, ergo the claim, adding he designed the masks.
“They were made from three layers of material, water resistant and breathable. There was no standard for Covid prevention at the time. We created a quality product that protected people. We saved lives.”
Forensic investigator Chad Thomas of IRS Forensic Investigations questioned how a nail business could design and manufacture medically sound masks when Peet Viljoen was not a medical expert.
Peet not a medical expert
The ongoing battle with Tammy Taylor in the US, said Viljoen, will see him and Melany as victors. He remains defiant over the $4 million (about R69 million) judgment issued in California over trademark rights infringements to the Tammy Taylor brand.
“Tammy Taylor, the brand, did not exist before Mel and I made it famous,” he said. “We trademarked it first. The case in America was fraudulently obtained. Tammy sued a company that no longer belonged to us and her lawyers knew it.”
He said his own legal order against Taylor in South Africa still stands.
ALSO READ: No, Peet Viljoen of Tammy Taylor fame did not start a bank in SA as he claims
“We own the intellectual property in South Africa. The interdict was served on her lawyers, Adams and Adams. Tammy skipped out on her legal bills and they refused to accept service. We created every Tammy Taylor salon in the world. There is no salon that existed before us.”
Viljoen was equally dismissive of criticism that he continues to sell legal advice despite being disbarred more than a decade ago when, per his own public statements, he was the most expensive and effective lawyer in SA, charging R125 000 an hour.
Now, he said, “I run a legal brokerage, I am not a practising attorney. I am a consultant. I have obliterated the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] in their malicious prosecution against me. Two judges of the Supreme Court and a regional magistrate have already ruled in my favour. I charge R5 000 per hour because I know what I am doing.”
Viljoen equally dismissive of criticism
He also said his qualifications had already been approved to sit for the American bar exam but that he had no interest in practising in the United States for now.
“Mel and I can afford some time off. We do not need to work here.”
