Sars commissioner interviews not transparent - BMF

The Black Management Forum (BMF) has criticized the recruitment process in appointing a new SARS commissioner.

A statement released by BMF managing director Thabile Wonci questioned its transparency after reports emerged that former auditor-general Terence Nombembe was at the forefront, among others, for the top job.

Last week, finance minister Tito Mboweni re-appointed Mark Kingdon as acting commissioner of Sars for a further period of 90 days - from March 14 to June 11.

Wonci said it was unclear who had been shortlisted for the position or where the interviews will be or are taking place.

"It is worrying that this is the case because the Sars Commission of Inquiry chair, retired judge Robert Nugent, in his interim report of the inquiry into Sars, urged president Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint a new commissioner urgently.

"What was supposed to be an open interview session is now seemingly detached from the public," Wonci said.

The new commissioner would become the fifth in Sars’s history since the start of democracy, replacing Tom Moyane, who was fired in November 2018, leaving the institution in tatters.

Under Moyane’s watch, tax collection declined, leaving a gaping hole in government revenue and prompting significant tax increases to make up the shortfall.

Nombembe is head of investigations for judge Raymond Zondo’s inquiry into state capture.

Wonci said the recruitment process lacked the legitimacy it deserved because women were not fairly represented and that BMF found Kingdon's reappointment for a third time questionable because it believed his qualification did not match the role of the commissioner.

Wonci said the recruitment of the Sars commissioner lacked the transparency shown during the interview process that saw Shamila Batohi appointed as head of the National Prosecuting Authority.