Mboweni puts Trevor Manuel in charge of recommending new Sars commissioner

The panel also includes deputy director general of Treasury Ismael Momoniat and Judge Dennis Davis.

Trevor Manuel. Picture: Gallo Images/Foto24/Lisa Hnatowicz

A panel, appointed by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, will be tasked with recommending a new Sars commissioner following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s sacking of Tom Moyane.

The panel will be chaired by former finance minister Trevor Manual, and will also include Judge Dennis Davis, deputy director general of Treasury Ismael Momoniat, businesswomen Sindi Mabaso-Koyana and Angela Bester, advocate Thandi Orleyn, and packaging company Nampak’s human resources director, Fesekile Tshiqi.

“The minister of finance is overseeing the initial steps of the appointment process, and will submit the panel’s recommendations to the president for his consideration,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the panel had already commenced its work and was expected to complete the process in the next few weeks.

Moyane was served with a termination of service letter by Ramaphosa last November after “applying his mind” to Judge Robert Nugent’s recommendation that he should be dismissed following the findings of his commission of inquiry into tax administration and governance by SARS.

A report issued by the commission tasked Ramaphosa with appointing a new commissioner.

“We stress that the replacement of Mr Moyane is not a panacea‚ but only the first necessary measure without which there is no possibility of rectifying the damage that has been done to Sars‚ and any further recommendations will be fruitless,” the report read.

Ramaphosa welcomed the judgment by the High Court in Pretoria later in November to uphold the dismissal of SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane, after the dismissed former commissioner had gone the legal route in a bid to get his job back.

Ramaphosa described the judgment as a step towards stabilising Sars at a time when efficient revenue collection and tax justice was vital to the economy.

The ruling was needed, according to the president, to ensure economic recovery and to restore the confidence of both corporate and personal taxpayers at Sars.

The president said he would now focus on appointing a new Sars commissioner, a decision it now seems will be taken with the help of Mboweni and his newly appointed panel.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman. Additional reporting by Gopolang Chawane)