President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Dr Ngobani Johnstone Makhubu as the new SARS commissioner for a five-year term beginning on 1 May 2026, succeeding Edward Kieswetter whose two-year contract expires on 30 April. Dr Makhubu, who has served as Deputy Commissioner for Taxpayer Engagement and Operations since 2023, was unanimously recommended by a selection panel convened by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.
The appointment follows a formal process set out in section 6 of the South African Revenue Service Act of 1997. Godongwana’s panel reviewed candidates before settling on Makhubu, whose background blends public sector tax administration with private sector executive experience spanning more than 17 years of senior leadership in commercial finance and operations management.
Who is Dr Ngobani Makhubu
Dr Makhubu holds a PhD, a credential that places him among the more academically credentialled heads of a South African revenue authority, and is also an ordained pastor, a combination that has drawn comment from political observers who see in it the profile of someone accustomed to balancing institutional authority with community accountability.
News24, which profiled him at the time of the announcement, described him as “an independent thinker.”
His tenure at SARS as Deputy Commissioner will have given him direct operational knowledge of the taxpayer-facing side of the organisation, including the large account management units that handle corporate and high-net-worth individual compliance.
He also oversaw the ongoing modernisation of SARS’s digital filing infrastructure.
What taxpayers and SMMEs should expect
Kieswetter’s tenure, which spanned his original appointment under Ramaphosa’s first administration, was defined by the intensive rebuilding of SARS’s institutional capacity after the state capture era.
Revenue collection improved substantially under his leadership, and the organisation’s reputation for effective audit and enforcement was largely restored.
Makhubu inherits an institution that is in significantly better shape than the one Kieswetter received. The immediate priorities for his administration will include sustaining revenue collection targets under difficult economic conditions, the ongoing rollout of third-party data matching, and managing the political pressure that invariably accompanies a SARS leadership transition in an election-adjacent period.
For SMMEs, the critical question is whether Makhubu will maintain the compliance support and debt relief programmes that have made SARS more accessible to small businesses. No policy statements have been made at the time of publishing, but Swisher Post has submitted a request for comment to SARS.
The transition timeline
Kieswetter’s final day as Commissioner is 30 April 2026. Makhubu takes over officially on 1 May 2026.
The transition is expected to be orderly, with Makhubu having worked within the institution at deputy level for the past three years.
