{"id":881809,"date":"2026-10-29T11:19:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=881809"},"modified":"2026-10-29T11:19:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T09:19:25","slug":"edward-kieswetters-warning-to-all-south-african-taxpayers-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/881809\/edward-kieswetters-warning-to-all-south-african-taxpayers-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Edward Kieswetter\u2019s warning to all South African taxpayers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Former South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner Edward Kieswetter has warned that South Africa\u2019s institutions are being undermined by leaders who claim to serve the public but prioritise their own interests over those of ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey lie. They claim to serve people but instead serve themselves. It is a disgusting reality we must face up to,\u201d Kieswetter said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He made the remarks during his keynote address at the 4th Universities South Africa (USAf) Higher Education Conference ahead of the municipal election in November. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spoke about ethical leadership, institutional governance, and the challenges facing South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur country is where it is because leaders take themselves too seriously instead of taking their work seriously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kieswetter, who served as SARS commissioner from 2019 until April 2026, argued that the country\u2019s leadership problems stem partly from a lack of integrity and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said institutions cannot earn public trust when those in charge are unwilling to confront uncomfortable truths about their performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople do not expect leaders to be perfect, but they do expect them to be authentic, honest when they don\u2019t know something, and incorruptible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that intellectual dishonesty often leads leaders to present a polished version of reality rather than acknowledge operational failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This prevents institutions from addressing their weaknesses and delivering the services South Africans need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kieswetter also criticised appointments based on political, ethnic, cultural, or social affiliations and argued that leadership positions should instead be awarded on merit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said institutions needed to prioritise good character, objective job competence, a proven track record of delivery, a strong work ethic and incorruptibility when appointing leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost leaders overestimate their own ability and underestimate the size of the job,\u201d he said, adding that leaders needed to focus on their responsibilities rather than their own status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His comments come after a six-year tenure at SARS, during which the revenue service worked to rebuild its institutional credibility and improve tax collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the work seriously, not yourself <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Kieswetter said restoring public confidence required the organisation to focus on providing clarity to taxpayers, improving customer service and enforcing tax laws fairly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the figures presented in his address, public trust in SARS increased from 48% to 75%, while customer service satisfaction rose from 54% to more than 90%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his tenure, SARS collected approximately R11.5 trillion in revenue. In the 2026 financial year, net tax collections surpassed R2 trillion, marking a significant milestone for the revenue service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kieswetter attributed the organisation\u2019s performance partly to the restoration of an internal understanding of its role in funding the country\u2019s public services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did this for poor South Africans who cannot get private healthcare or education,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are transforming the lives of people. Poor people cannot get private services. They have nowhere to go. Those are the people I work for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that he was proud of what SARS employees had achieved during his tenure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am filled with immense pride that, together with the help of the people at SARS, we have given our best to the nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kieswetter stepped down on 30 April 2026 and was succeeded by Ngobani Johnstone Makhubu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SARS has continued to report strong revenue collection, with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana\u2019s latest Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement projecting tax revenue of R2.14 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The estimate is R17.1 billion above the amount budgeted in February 2026, while the tax-to-GDP ratio is expected to increase from 26% to 26.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLeaders, in my opinion, must take their work seriously instead of taking themselves seriously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter has warned that South Africa\u2019s institutions are being undermined by leaders who prioritise their own interests. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":840784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2115736659102687411","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2253270268826705","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17870018133659942","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[19467,3246,853],"class_list":["post-881809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-edward-kieswetter","tag-sars","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881836,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881809\/revisions\/881836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}