Big ka-ching for tax bosses

GOVT BODY: TOP 5 SARS EXECS' PAY ON SIMILAR SCALE TO COUNTERPARTS AT PRIVATE FIRMS >>> Together they cost agency about R33m in 2025 financial year.

- Tshehla Cornelius Koteli

People at a wedding ceremony at Meiji Shrine, coinciding with the autumn festival on Culture Day public holiday in Tokyo yesterday.

(AFP)

You might think that executive pay at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) would be far lower than at private companies.

After all, SOEs are publicly funded and exist to serve the country, while private companies focus on making profits. Yet their salaries are not all that different.

Five senior employees at the South African Revenue Service (Sars) have cost the tax agency more than R33 million for the 2025 financial year, with the highest paid being commissioner Edward Kieswetter.

In the greater scheme of things, Sars is not considered an SOE, but an autonomous agency of the government. The tax agency was established to collect revenue and ensure compliance with tax laws, not to operate commercially, or generate profit like an SOE would.

Although Sars is not an SOE, as it operates independently in its day-to-day administration and decision-making, especially around how it enforces tax laws and manages revenue collection.