Kieswetter estimates load shedding cost economy about R150bn

As the country continues to battle load shedding, South African Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Edward Kieswetter has estimated that the rolling blackouts may have cost the country’s economy as much as R150 billion in lost revenue.

Kieswetter was briefing Parliament’s finance standing committee on Wednesday on the state of tax collection for the past financial year.

Load shedding

The tax boss said load shedding hampers economic growth and eats into productivity and company profits which affects corporate tax collections.

“We estimated our energy supply risk over 2022/23 to be about R60 billion, but it could easily have been as high as R150 billion. We see that again this year, unquantifiable but material. If we could recover the revenue lost from load shedding this year, we would be in surplus, not lagging as we are year-to-date.”

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Crime

Kieswetter also said the proliferation of crime is a big issue for Sars.

“Sadly, we have seen a proliferation of crime. Organised crime is the big issue for us. We see that in Eskom, at Transnet, across the clothing industry, and tobacco industry. We see syndicate crime being a proliferation and I would be disingenuous if I told you we are on top of it.

“We are struggling, it is complex, it is resource intensive and we need to step up our investment in this regard otherwise the criminals will always be better organised than us and they will always be better resourced than us and that is the reality we face. I am sure you would have a similar tone from other law enforcement agencies, enforcing law has become just so much harder,” said Kieswetter.

Revenue

However, there was good news with Kieswetter reporting a 7% increase in gross revenue collection of just more than R2 trillion for 2022/23.

“We are pleased to share that we are making steady progress, we are not declaring victory, but we have a committed team that will continue on this path to rebuild Sars, to modernise it, to remain as an institution that can serve South Africa,” he said.

Kieswetter said Sars received a clean audit from the auditor-general on its 2022-23 financial statements.

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