President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Dr Ngobani Johnstone Makhubu as the new Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) for a five-year term beginning on 1 May 2026. Makhubu, who has served as Deputy Commissioner for Taxpayer Engagement and Operations since 2023, succeeds Edward Kieswetter, whose two-year contract concludes on 30 April 2026. According to a statement from the presidency, the appointment followed a unanimous recommendation by a selection panel convened by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, acting under section 6 of the South African Revenue Service Act of 1997.
Makhubu brings more than 17 years of senior leadership experience across tax administration, commercial operations, finance and management. His career has spanned multiple industries, including fast-moving consumer goods, mining, power generation and public revenue services. Since 2020, he has contributed to shaping SARS’s strategic direction and has been actively involved in implementing the Vision 2024 strategy alongside the outgoing commissioner. That strategy delivered a compound annual growth rate of 7.6% in revenue collections, while voluntary compliance increased by 3.4 percentage points.
As previously reported by Bloomberg, Makhubu had been favoured for the role. He was appointed as one of three deputy commissioners in 2023, a move that positioned him as a natural successor within the organisation’s leadership pipeline. His elevation represents continuity rather than a departure from the strategic framework established under Kieswetter, who has been widely credited with rebuilding SARS following the governance failures of the Tom Moyane era.
Ramaphosa expressed high regard for Kieswetter’s leadership, describing it as incisive and innovative. During a seven-year tenure that began in 2019, Kieswetter inherited an institution in disarray after years of decline. He pursued a dual strategy of making tax compliance user-friendly through technology while imposing steep costs on evasion. His tenure coincided with severe economic headwinds, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which required maintaining service levels during lockdowns, and a sustained exodus of wealthy taxpayers emigrating and terminating tax residency. Despite a narrowing tax base, SARS achieved record revenue collections, reaching R2 trillion in the 2025/26 fiscal year.
The handover marks the end of one of the most successful leadership periods in SARS’s history. Kieswetter’s tenure followed a line of commissioners that includes Pravin Gordhan (1999–2009), Oupa Magashula (2009–2013), Ivan Pillay (acting, 2013–2014), and Tom Moyane (2014–2018), whose leadership culminated in a state-capture inquiry and widespread institutional damage. Mark Kingon served as acting commissioner from 2018 to 2019 before Kieswetter’s appointment. Makhubu’s five-year term is scheduled to run until 2031, tasking him with sustaining the revenue agency’s recovery while navigating an increasingly constrained domestic economy.