New tax boss Edward Kieswetter gets nod from ANC's Enoch Godongwana

The ANC’s Enoch Godongwana says people who are opposing the appointment of Edward Kieswetter as the new SA Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner “are people who do not have their taxes in order".

“Those who are opposing him are actually scared of him because their taxes are not in order,” he said.

Godongwana threw his weight behind Kieswetter, describing him as an “experienced executive”.

“He has run a listed company, Alexander Forbes. He has been in SARS before. He is on the board of Transnet, that has been transformed,” he said.

The EFF on Wednesday preempted Kieswetter's appointment and threatened to challenge the process in court.

On Wednesday afternoon, finance minister Tito Mboweni announced that Kieswetter had been appointed to the helm of the revenue collector from May 1, for a five-year term.

Both the minister of finance and President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed confidence in Kieswetter.

But earlier in the day, the EFF dubbed the process corrupt, saying it wanted the process to appoint the SARS commissioner restarted so it could be transparent.

Godongwana said there was no doubt in his mind that Kieswetter was up to the task.

“Clearly SARS has gone through a reputational risk, its reputation has gone down. As a tax authority, it needs credibility. His first task is to bring back its reputation so taxpayers can have confidence in it,” he said.