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Edward Kieswetter named new South African tax agency boss: SARS

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Edward Kieswetter as the new South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner on Wednesday, March 27, his appointment is effective from May 1.

Kieswetter served as deputy Sars commissioner under Pravin Gordhan between 2004 and 2009, he was recommended by a 7 member high-level panel headed by former finance minister Trevor Manuel.

The position of SARS commissioner became vacant after Tom Moyane was fired by Ramaphosa in November 2018 following the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into Tax Administration and Governance at SARS chaired by retired Judge Robert Nugent.

A total of 82 applications were received for the SARS commissioner job and 7 candidates were shortlisted for interviews but only 6 were interviewed as outlined below.

  1. Edward Kieswetter (Former SARS deputy Commissioner)
  2. Mark Kingon (SARS Acting Commissioner)
  3. Nathaniel Mabetwa (Former SARS executive)
  4. Sunita Manik (Former SARS executive)
  5. Gene Ravele (Former SARS executive)
  6. Nazrien Kader (Deloitte’s head of tax in Africa)

Kieswetter emerged as the best candidate, with Kingon as an alternative option recommended to the presidency, the selection panel reported.

President 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

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni 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 organisation

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi was critical of the process that led to the appointment of Kieswetter as SARS boss labelling it “corrupt” and accusing Manuel of nepotism.

But Manuel rubbished Ndlozi’s claims and demanded that the comments be retracted – “or Mr Ndlozi will have to face legal action” adding that he “needs to provide evidence for the three claims he makes about me”.

The interview panel consisted of the following

  • Trevor Manuel (Former SA Minister of Finance)
  • Angela Bester (SA businesswoman)
  • Justice Dennis Davis (High Court Judge)
  • Sindi Mabaso-Koyana (Chairperson of the African Women Chartered Accountants)
  • Ismail Momoniat (Head of Tax and Financial Sector at the SA Treasury)
  • Advocate Thandi Orleyn (Former non-executive director of the SA Reserve Bank)
  • Fezekile Tshiqi (former Nampak human resource group executive)

Edward Kieswetter short biography

  • Born in 1951 (South Africa)
  • Diploma in Electrical Engineering ( Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 1983)
  • Postgraduate diploma in education (University of Cape Town, 1986)
  • Honours degree in education (University of the Western Cape)
  • Instrumental engineer at Caltex (Cape Town, 1982)
  • Masters in Education (University of the Western Cape, 1995)
  • Former Lecturer at Athlone Technikon
  • General Manager at Eskom (1992-2000)
  • FirstRand (2000)
  • Executive MBA (Henley Business School, 2000)
  • M.Com in tax (North-West University, 2005)
  • SARS Deputy Commissioner (2004-09)
  • CEO of Alexander Forbes (2010
  • Married to Singaporean asset manager Glenda Han (2013)
  • Board member at Shoprite, Transnet, GEMS Education Africa & other companies