Dr Ngobani Johnstone Makhubu, the newly-appointed Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service for a period of five years with effect from 1 May 2026.
Image: IOL Graphics
The appointment of new SARS Commissioner, Dr Ngobani Johnstone Makhubu, has been hailed as a decision that will support continued progress at SARS.
Makhubu is a qualified engineer, a pastor, author, and an ultramarathon runner. He has degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics, a Master of Business Leadership, and a PhD in Leadership from the Albert Luthuli Leadership Institute (University of Pretoria, 2024).
He has over 17 years of senior leadership experience in finance, operations, and tax administration, and has been part of the SARS leadership team since 2016.
Makhubu’s appointment received the thumbs up from various taxation institutions across the country as he succeeds outgoing commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, whose two-year contract ends on April 30.
Keitumetse Sesana, Acting Deputy Chief Executive of the South African Institute of Taxation (SAIT), welcomed the appointment and believes that Makhubu’s experience, institutional knowledge, and active engagement with the Recognised Controlling Body (RCB) and taxpayers places him in good standing for the role.
“With an impressive track record and a clear understanding of the tax ecosystem, we are confident that this appointment will support continued progress at SARS. SAIT stands behind this appointment and looks forward to continued constructive engagement going forward,” Sesana stated.
Professional accountant and academic Nqobani Mzizi, while praising the appointment as brilliant, said: “We can only hope that he can improve.”
“Based on his (Makhubu’s) presser that happened recently, I’m in full support of his plan to curb the illicit trade of cigarettes and alcohol, because there is a huge revenue opportunity that is lost as a result of illicit trade. The second one is cryptocurrency,” Mzizi said.
He urged Makhubu to strengthen relations with institutions that deal with compliance on cryptocurrency and cross-border crime, such as the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) and its Crypto Assets Regulatory Working Group (CARWG), which are South African collaborative bodies established to regulate the crypto asset ecosystem.
Makhubu is married, has two children, and is a pastor at Hope Restoration Ministries, which has multiple churches in Gauteng.
According to the presidency, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Makhubu in terms of section 6 of the South African Revenue Service Act of 1997, following a unanimous recommendation by a selection panel convened by Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana.
"Makhubu has worked on the formulation of the SARS strategic direction since 2020 and has actively worked to implement the Vision 2024 strategy together with the current Commissioner. The implementation of Vision 2024 achieved revenue collections with a compounded annual growth rate of 7.6% while voluntary compliance increased by 3.4 percentage points,” the presidency said.
Cape Times