South Africa has a new SARS boss

Dr Ngobani Johnstone Makhubu has been selected as the new commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), set to replace Edward Kieswetter at the start of May 2026.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Makhubu’s appointment on Thursday, 2 April, saying it comes after a unanimous recommendation by a selection panel convened by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

Makhubu has been the deputy commissioner of SARS’ taxpayer engagement and operations unit since 2023.

“The incoming commissioner is a seasoned public and private sector executive with more than 17 years of senior leadership experience spanning tax administration, commercial, finance and operations management,” Ramaphosa said.

“He has worked in complex, regulated and large-scale organisations across multiple industries, including fast-moving consumer goods, mining, power generation and public revenue services.”

Makhubu also contributed to the formulation of SARS’ strategic direction since 2020 and has actively worked to implement the Vision 2024 strategy together with Kieswetter.

The new SARS boss will have big shoes to fill, as his predecessor has largely been credited with restoring the revenue service to its former glory.

In the 2000s, SARS was among the most respected government institutions and led the fight against the growing illicit trade of goods in South Africa.

However, the revenue service was one of the biggest victims of South Africa’s State Capture era, hollowed out by corruption and rendered highly inefficient.

“The damage caused by state capture in general cannot be underestimated, and SARS was an unfortunate casualty in this process,” Kieswetter previously said.

Kieswetter came out of retirement in 2019 after leading the Alexander Forbes Group for six years to take the top job at SARS, tasked with turning the revenue service around.

The commissioner excelled at this task, with SARS now on a far more stable footing than before he joined and considered one of the country’s most efficient public institutions.

Kieswetter is set to go out with a bang, with the 2025/26 financial year seeing SARS collect R2 trillion in tax revenue for the first time.

Under his tenure, SARS has also made progress in clamping down on illicit trade, which has become a serious thorn in the country’s side.

“We have fundamentally rebuilt SARS into a SMART Modern SARS with unquestionable integrity that could be trusted and admired after its capture during 2014 to 2018,” Kieswetter said in 2024.

In announcing the appointment of Kieswetter’s successor, Ramaphosa expressed his appreciation and high regard for the commissioner’s incisive and innovative leadership.

He said Kieswetter “has positioned SARS as a critical enabler of fiscal stability, social delivery, trade facilitation, and the enablement of domestic and foreign investment”.

The President congratulated Makhubu on his appointment to lead the revenue service, saying the change in SARS’ leadership shows how sound succession planning contributes to the capability of the state.