DA welcomes new SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter

28 March 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the appointment of Edward Kieswetter as the new Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and wishes him well on the mammoth task to repair the broken institution.

SARS was at a point, the gold standard of good governance in our public institutions, but over time, particularly under the leadership of Tom Moyane and constant political interference from the ANC, massive institutional erosion took place. This had led to systemic problems at SARS including the abuse of taxpayers, as confirmed by the Tax Ombudsman investigation in 2017.

One of the more devastating consequences of the mismanagement of SARS under the ANC government was the mistrust that was created between hardworking South African taxpayers and the institution, which in part lead to low tax buoyancy rates and revenue shortfalls.

We believe that Mark Kingon, who was the Acting Commissioner, started the process of addressing the problems at SARS and Kiewetter must continue in this path. With a possible strike threatening operations at SARS, Kieswetter must immediately provide much needed certainty and stability.

The DA will continue to monitor all developments at SARS as we fight to make sure it is a well-functioning institution.

Issued by Alf Lees, DA Shadow Minister of Finance, 28 March 2019