OP-ED – Edward Kieswetter’s SARS is a blueprint for ethical leadership

*As first published by News24 on 24 April 2026. South Africa knows what institutional failure looks like. We see it in departments that cannot account for public funds, municipalities that cannot deliver basic services, and agencies hollowed out by patronage. We are, perhaps, less practised at recognising and learning from institutional success. Edward Kieswetter’s tenure as Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service, which ends this month after seven years, offers a working model of what ethical, values-driven leadership achieves in the public sector. Kieswetter inherited a workforce he described as “traumatised” by state capture: an institution that had been demoralised, operationally degraded, and, as a result, distrusted. He anchored its recovery in a clear ethical framework. On public platforms, he consistently returned to the qualities he believed essential to institutional renewal; at a News24 post Budget Speech panel in February, where we with both panellists,  and on many other platforms he occupies, he has been very deliberate about suggesting that we learn from countries such as China, “where qualities such as discipline, collective responsibility, and integrity are deeply valued among employees and leaders alike.” He embedded these shared values across an organisation of more than 12 000 people. He […]

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