Fewer than 10 up for Sars commissioner job
Trevor Manuel heads panel to interview contenders for commissioner post, compile a shortlist and consider Nugent recommendations
While there was an overwhelming interest in the post of SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner, fewer than 10 candidates will be interviewed for the post by a seven-member team headed by former finance minister Trevor Manuel. Finance minister Tito Mboweni appointed the panel to conduct the interviews and compile a shortlist for President Cyril Ramaphosa, who will make the final appointment.
While there was overwhelming interest in the post of SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner, fewer than 10 candidates will be interviewed for the post by a seven-member team headed by former finance minister Trevor Manuel.
Finance minister Tito Mboweni appointed the panel to conduct the interviews and compile a shortlist for President Cyril Ramaphosa, who will make the final appointment.
Manuel was finance minister when Sars underwent an enormous transformation from an apartheid-era receiver of revenue to a world-class tax agency. The new Sars commissioner will face a mammoth task after the ruinous leadership of former tax boss Tom Moyane, who culled critical skills and neutralised its capacity.
The panel includes judge Dennis Davis, Treasury tax chief Ismail Momoniat, Peotona founder advocate Thandi Orleyn, human resources expert Fezekile Tshiqi, chair of the African Women Chartered Accountants Investment Holding Company Sindi MabasoKoyana and business person Angela Bester. The panel will consider the recommendations by the chair of the Sars commission of inquiry, retired judge Robert Nugent.
Officials were tight-lipped on Wednesday about the identity of the contenders for the post.
The appointment of a new Sars commissioner is urgent, given the scale of the turnaround required to get the agency working again.
The Nugent inquiry heard that the Sars information technology infrastructure is in a bad way and has to be turned around. Senior employees have warned that the e-filing system could collapse by 2020 should no action be taken urgently.
Former senior officials who were purged under Moyane have indicated their willingness to return, but this is unlikely to happen until a new commissioner has been appointed.
Sars revenue collection was revised downward in the medium-term budget in 2018. Its collection figures are set to be announced by Mboweni in his budget later in February.
At the heart of Nugent’s recommendations is that the new Sars boss to be “apolitical”. The individual should also be of “unblemished integrity” with the ability to manage a large organisation. Sars has a staff complement of about 14,000 people.
Ramaphosa has yet to consider the other recommendations made by Nugent, including potentially extending the term of the Nugent commission to continue its work. Business Day understands that this is a possibility, but the president has not yet made a decision on it.
Other recommendations include amending the Sars Act to appoint an inspector-general to oversee governance at the tax agency and appointing a deputy commissioner to provide another layer of accountability.
Moyane’s lawyer, Eric Mabuza, said he is waiting for feedback from the Constitutional Court, where the former commissioner is challenging his axing.