Edward Kieswetter

Commissioner of SARS

Date of Birth: 6 November 1958

Profile  

Career

Edward re-joined as SARS Commissioner on 1 May 2019. He had formerly served as the founding Group Executive of the SARS Large Business Centre and High Nett Worth Unit, SARS Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Commissioner during the period 2004 to 2009. From 2010 to 2016, he was the Group Chief Executive for the Alexander Forbes Group Holdings where after a successful, well publicised, turnaround, the company was listed on the JSE in July 2014. Edward also held senior executive roles at FirstRand Banking Group and Eskom. In addition, he managed his own investments and served on various boards which amongst others included Transnet (NED), Technology Innovation Agency (Chair), and Shoprite Holdings (LID).

He relinquished all these external roles when he took up the position as SARS Commissioner in 2019.

Edward’s leadership capability has also been recognised globally by serving on a number of international roles, amongst them:

Current roles

• Chair: African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) since 2024
• Vice Chair: OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) since November 2024
• Chair: World Customs Organisation (WCO) since June 2023
• Bureau Member of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration

Past roles

• Co-Chair – African Initiative of the OECD Global Forum on Information Exchange for Tax Transparency
• Vice Chair: OECD Global Forum on Information Exchange for Tax Transparency
• Deputy Chair: Committee for Accounting Education Standards – IFAC
• Chair: Committee for Auditor Ethics – IRBA
• Board Member: GEMS Education Global Academic Council

Qualifications

• Diploma Electrical Engineering – Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT)
• Post Graduate Diploma Education (Mathematics & Engineering Education) – University of Cape Town (UCT)
• Bachelor of Education Honours (Mathematics & Science Education) – University of Western Cape (UWC)
• Master of Education (Science Education – Cognitive Development – University of Western Cape (UWC)
• Executive MBA (Strategy & Transformation) – Henley, UK
• Masters of Commerce (SA & International Tax law) cum laude – North-West University (NWU)
• Academic appointment as an Associate in Education at Harvard University, USA
• Design Thinking – Stanford University.