SA has a new tax boss
President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Edward Kieswetter as the new head of the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
Kieswetter’s appointment follows the report of the Nugent commission into the revenue service that a permanent commissioner be appointed immediately after previous boss Tom Moyane was sent packing.
Kieswetter’s appointment is effective from May 1 for a term of five years.
Ramaphosa says the government has full confidence that Kieswetter has the experience and skills required to turn the revenue service around by restoring revenue collection, credibility and integrity.
His appointment comes as the revenue service has been marred with controversy.
Moyane has been fingered by the Nugent inquiry as the mastermind behind governance and administration failures – a recommendation by retired Judge Robert Nugent which he had taken on judicial review many times but failed.
“Mr 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,” Treasury said in a statement.