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
Dr Ngobani Johnstone Makhubu has been appointed as the new SARS Commissioner, with experts expressing optimism about his plans to tackle illicit trade and enhance compliance in South Africa's tax system.
Nqobani Mzizi, a professional accountant and an academic, 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, IOL reported.
Makhubu is a qualified engineer, a pastor, a book 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 is an executive with 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 30 April.
Keitumetse Sesana, Acting Deputy Chief Executive of the South African Institute of Taxation (SAIT), has 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.
Makhubu is married, has two children, and is a pastor at Hope Restoration Ministries, which has multiple churches in Gauteng. Makhubu has, along with his wife Nomthandazo, offered a marital boot course to members of the congregation.
His February sermon, themed ‘Divine Dreaming’, got more than 3,000 views on YouTube. In this sermon, he explains that whenever God is seeking to orchestrate the freedom of the oppressed, he would often raise a willing dreamer within a generation.
He states how South Africa needs futuristic leaders, in politics and every sphere, whose dreams are guided and led by God’s hand. He says these types of leaders are able to free their generation, just as Moses did through the hand of God.
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.