President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday announced Edward Kieswetter as the new Commissioner for South African Revenue Service (SARS) with effect from 1 May 2019 for a term of five years.
He said that the process for the appointment of the SARS Commissioner was informed by the SARS Act and was guided by the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Tax Administration and Governance by SARS chaired by retired Judge Robert Nugent.
Ramaphosa said: “We have every confidence that Mr Kieswetter has the experience, integrity and skills required to turn SARS around by restoring revenue collection, redirecting operations toward innovation, developing future leaders for the organisation, and restoring SARS’ credibility and integrity.”
In his remarks, Minister Mboweni wished the new appointee success in this endeavour, and looks forward to seeing SARS re-established as a respected tax collector and improved revenue collection outcomes.
He said: “I expect him to act without fear or favour, to restore and defend the integrity of SARS and to uphold taxpayer rights when carrying out his duties as the Commissioner, by implementing the recommendations of the Nugent Commission and restoring SARS to a world-class organization.”
The President recalled that one of the key recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Tax Administration and Governance of SARS was that the “candidate or candidates for appointment should submit to a private interview by a panel of four or more members selected by the President”, that the panel should make recommendations to the President and that the recommendations of the panel “should be made public”.
The independent selection panel was chaired by former Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, and had as members Ms. Angela Bester; Justice Dennis Davis; Ms. Sindi Mabaso-Koyana; Mr. Ismail Momoniat; Ms. Thandi Orleyn; and Mr. Fezekile Tshiqi
The Minister of Finance submitted the panel’s report and his recommendation to the President on Monday, 25th March 2019. The President has accepted the Minister’s recommendation.
The National Treasury is confident that the process undertaken has integrity and all necessary disclosures were made and no conflicts of interest have been identified throughout this process.
Kieswetter emerged as the strongest candidate, based on his past experience as Deputy Commissioner for SARS between 2004 and 2009, and his subsequent track record of transformative leadership and his experience of turning around a large institution.
During his tenure at SARS, he established the Large Business Centre and High Net Worth Individual Unit, leading to both compliance and revenue collection improvements.
