{"id":858846,"date":"2026-05-01T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=858846"},"modified":"2026-05-01T13:33:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:33:48","slug":"edward-kieswetters-final-message-to-taxpayers-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/858846\/edward-kieswetters-final-message-to-taxpayers-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Edward Kieswetter’s final message to taxpayers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Outgoing SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter says South Africans have an obligation to pay their taxes, but also have the right to demand that their hard-earned money is well spent by the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, 30 April, marked Kieswetter’s final day as commissioner, with the new commissioner-designate, Johnstone Makhubu, set to take up the mantle from 1 May 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kieswetter noted that he has already packed up his office and spent his final day in handover discussions with Makhubu and the core team from his office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a reflection on his time in office, the outgoing commissioner attributed the success of his seven-year tenure at the revenue service to the almost 15,000 people at SARS who “are the real heroes”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kieswetter has been widely lauded as a highly successful SARS Commissioner and credited with rebuilding the service from the ashes of the previous administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon returning to SARS in 2019, Kieswetter had the unenviable task of re-equipping the tax service to be the efficient and effective powerhouse it once was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had to rebuild the tax collector after a near-decade of deliberate destruction and political interference, during which many of its functions and efficiencies were dismantled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this, he emphasised technology as the driving force behind SARS\u2019s tax collection efforts, while adopting the philosophy of making tax \u201cuser-friendly\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A clear goal throughout his tenure was to make paying taxes really easy and to make dodging taxes very expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using rapidly evolving technologies such as machine learning, AI, and advanced data analysis, SARS under Kieswetter rolled out auto-assessments in 2021, which took much of the legwork out of manual filings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kieswetter also saw the return of the High Net Worth Unit and the development of other specialised teams, such as the crypto unit, which targets emerging crypto tax issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through these changes, the revenue service collected a record R2 trillion in taxes in the last financial year and laid the foundation for Makhubu and his team to carry this forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africans have a responsibility and agency<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Kieswetter’s last message to South Africans emphasised that the Revenue Service is a “national treasure” and an asset that belongs to the country’s citizens, not any one commissioner or the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, there is an important social compact between the service and citizens, built on trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one side of the compact, South African citizens need to pay their taxes. On the other side, the government needs to ensure that these taxes are well spent. It is the citizens who elect the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“South Africans need to know that this is their institution. They pay their hard-earned tax monies into the coffers of the state,” he said. “But they have the right to expect a delivery from that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said this relationship carries two obligations on South African taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first obligation is to fulfil the contribution that everyone has to make. The second obligation is that every citizen exercises their agency to ensure that public funds are well spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kieswetter flagged a serious issue with the latter aspect of the compact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that around 61 cents of every rand collected by SARS goes to “necessary” social expenditure. A further 21 cents goes to servicing debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This leaves only 18 cents for further productive investment expenditure, a balance that is simply not sustainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that SARS has worked hard to rebuild trust with the tax base so that they understand that the country is fiscally constrained, and that tax compliance is a part of resolving this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are proud we are part of government; we’re not separate from government, but we are proud that as an agency of the state, we have made a contribution to improving the social compact between the state and the citizens,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wished Makhubu well for his time leading SARS, saying that South Africans will see a different “brand” from the new commissioner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He’s going to be a different commissioner than me, and that’s fine. But I think our strategic intent, our vision of a smart modern SARS, our sense of higher purpose\u2014those are enduring qualities and principles I know he will continue to build,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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