Apolitical experts should pick Sars boss
Chosen one should not be aligned to any constituency, and if so, renounce that alliance upon appointment
THE Nugent Commission has recommended to President Cyril Ramaphosa that the new commissioner of the South African Revenue Services (Sars) be interviewed by a panel of apolitical experts.
This is contained in the 200-page final report of retired Judge Robert Nugent.
He was tasked to probe administration and governance at Sars while axed Tom Moyane was at the helm since September 2014.
The government has already started the process of appointing a new Sars commissioner with adverts placed in newspapers.
The deadline for those interested in the job is January 19.
Last week, Moyane lost his bid to be reinstated as Sars commissioner after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, endorsed the Nugent Commission’s recommendation that Moyane had allowed tobacco syndicates to operate with little restraint, severely affecting the country’s revenue collection.
In his recommendation, Judge Nugent said the final appointment of a commissioner should be made by the president after consultation with the finance minister.
On the suitability of the candidate, the Nugent Commission said the successful candidate should be reputed to be of unblemished integrity and must have proven experience of managing a large organisation at a high level.
The retired judge said the candidate must not be aligned to any constituency, and if so aligned, should renounce that alliance upon appointment.
In recommending the appointment of a new commissioner, Judge Nugent said the candidate or candidates for that position should submit causing a backlog. He explained that the backlogs were on trust amendments, trustee amendments and correspondence in older files.
“All new registrations and appointments are being dealt with as they are logged, as attending to these is not dependent on the receipt of files from off-site storage.”
Masutha said the Pretoria Master’s Office has started keeping all trust files as from 2016 in the office vaults instead of sending them to off-site storage.
“Monthly meetings are being held between the Pretoria Master’s Office and the current service provider to ensure that all challenges are sorted out expediently.”
Masutha also said all requested files have now been received from the service provider and funds had been allocated and approved for 24 officials in the Pretoria Master’s Office to work overtime and weekends from November to December to eliminate the backlog.
“The backlog situation will be assessed again on December 15, but all indications are that the backlog will be cleared by March 1, 2019,” Masutha said.
“There are no backlogs in the other 15 Master’s Offices that need special intervention,” he added. to a “private interview” by a panel of four or more members appointed by the president.
He said the function of the panel was to evaluate the candidate or candidates and make non-prescriptive recommendations to the president. “Members of the panel should be apolitical and not answerable to any constituency and should be persons of high standing who are able to inspire confidence across the taxpaying spectrum.
“The panel must, upon its evaluation, make motivated non-prescriptive recommendations to the president on the suitability or otherwise for the appointment of the candidate or candidates.
“If the recommendation is against the appointment of a particular candidate, it is the prerogative of the president to reject the recommendation and appoint the candidate nonetheless, or to select an alternative candidate or candidates to repeat the process,” Judge Nugent said.
He also recommended a provision be made in the Sars Act which would allow for the removal of the Sars commissioner by the president on specified grounds, through a process that is transparent.
“In formulating the grounds for removal, care should be taken to achieve the correct balance between upholding the autonomy of Sars and the ability to remove an incumbent commissioner whose continuing incumbency undermines the efficiency and efficacy of Sars and thus the country,” Judge Nugent said.
He said provision should also be made for the suspension of the commissioner pending proceedings for removal. The retired judge has also recommended that the Sars Act be amended to require the Sars commissioner to appoint an advisory executive committee.
The Nugent Commission has further recommended that the Sars act be amended to make provision for the appointment of an inspector-general, for renewable periods of five years, with powers comparable to those of a commission of inquiry.
Judge Nugent said the appointment of an inspector-general should be approached in the same way as the appointment of a new commissioner for Sars. He said the functions of the inspector-general should be to investigate matters of governance, on his own account or on complaint, for the purpose of enabling corrective action to be taken.
Judge Nugent also recommended that provision be made in the Sars act for the appointment of a deputy commissioner of Sars by the president after consultation with the finance minister.
He said a process similar to the appointment of a commissioner should be followed.