End of the road for Kieswetter
South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Edward Kieswetter has started laying the groundwork for his exit from the tax agency, with his extended contract expiring soon.
He took up the top position at SARS in 2019, with his original contract set to end in April 2024.
However, President Cyril Ramaphosa extended his contract for two more years, which is now set to end in 2026.
According to internal emails seen by the Sunday Times, Kieswetter is clarifying his exit to staff amid growing speculation about the move.
He is now entering his final months at SARS and has urged employees not to lose sight of the taxman’s goals.
He also noted that he had begun discussions with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana about succession and making the transition to new leadership as smooth as possible.
Kieswetter also alluded to a minority of people who are glad to see him go, but said staff should not lose sight of their responsibility to help the country function and thrive.
By all accounts, Kieswetter’s time at SARS has been incredibly successful, although not without its challenges.
He re-joined SARS in 2019, coming from the private sector where he served as Group Chief Executive for the Alexander Forbes Group between 2010 and 2016.
He previously worked at SARS as the founding Group Executive of the SARS Large Business Centre and High Net Worth Unit.
These roles were notable as both of these units were gutted and effectively dismantled under Kieswetter’s predecessor, Tom Moyane, severely handicapping the tax service’s ability to investigate and audit the rich and powerful.
Moyane, who was Commissioner between 2014 and 2018, was found by the Nugent Commission to be responsible for the deterioration of SARS due to mismanagement and maladministration.
Ramaphosa terminated his contract in November 2018.
Kieswetter had also previously worked at SARS as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Commissioner during the period 2004 to 2009. During this time, he worked under the late Pravin Gordhan, who had been Commissioner at the time.
Building a better SARS
Returning to SARS, Kieswetter had the unenviable task of rebuilding and re-equipping the tax service to be the efficient and effective powerhouse it once was.
To do this, he emphasised technology as the driving force behind SARS’s tax collection efforts, while adopting the philosophy of making tax “user-friendly”.
A clear goal throughout his tenure was to make paying tax really easy, and to make dodging tax very expensive.
Using rapidly evolving technology like machine learning, AI and high-level data analysis, SARS under Kieswetter saw auto-assessments rollout in 2021, which took much of the legwork out of manual filings.
The system automatically pulls in third-party data to complete taxpayer returns. Taxpayers then get to approve or reject the assessment and finalise their returns within three days.
In 2025, auto-assessments reached around 6 million taxpayers, with the number expected to grow as even more people start qualifying, including provisional taxpayers.
Kieswetter also saw the return of the High Net Worth Unit and the development of other specialised teams like the crypto unit, which targets emerging crypto tax affairs.
While the SARS commissioner has been incredibly successful in rebuilding SARS, it hasn’t been without its challenges.
Kieswetter also oversaw operations during one of the most economically turbulent times in history, having to maintain service levels during the Covid-19 pandemic, while also needing to collect revenue from a narrowing tax base.
Taxpayers, particularly wealthy ones, have been emigrating and ending tax residency in their thousands, while wider economic strain on individuals has forced SARS to draw water from a shallow pool.
Nevertheless, the service has managed to rake in record revenue over the years, with a target of over R2 trillion set for 2025/26.
As his final challenge as Commissioner, Kieswetter has been tasked with boosting tax revenue by around R50 billion to cover a shortfall in the budget.
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