After the Bell: Edward Kieswetter and the recovery at SARS — something to celebrate

Sometimes, when one spends their time in the stormy waters of our politics and our economy, buffeted this way and that by egos and shouting and the occasional fright, it can be hard to find something to celebrate, ahead of what for millions of people will be a weekend of celebration.

And yet, finding the right person to celebrate this weekend, the person who has made an immense contribution to our society, a contribution that will live on for many years, was actually easy.

There are not many societies that will celebrate the taxman. It is their lot in life to skulk around the dark corner of a bar or a tavern, or to spend their time at the chicken end of the braai. Hoping that no one asks them: “And what do you do?”

But Edward Kieswetter deserves the celebration. Honestly and truly.

There are very few people who have been in our government, any government from any of our historical periods, who can point to real achievement. Achievement that no one will contest.

But he can.

I remember the first time I heard his name. It was quite late in the evening in March 2019. On the WhatsApp group for the SAfm show I was working on at the time, someone put his contact details forward and said, “we’ll have to try him.”

Somehow, that became “Stephen, you try him”. Eventually the penny dropped. This was the person who would be running SARS.

When I called, I think on WhatsApp, because I was told he was out of the country at the time, he answered “Kieswetter”.

I kind of knew immediately that this was a businesslike person.

And so it has been shown. It was clear he knew what needed to be done, that he understood SARS, and that he was happy to take on whatever fight needed to be had.

It took me a few years to really understand one of his tricks, something any leader could do.

Almost every single interview that SARS did in the broadcast media, TV and radio primarily, was done by him. No one else.

And while it must have been exhausting (radio and TV people are incredibly tiresome…), it also gave him total control of the SARS message. I think in the end that was very powerful.

But the real work must have been behind the scenes. I can’t imagine how many hours it took, what had to happen, how exhausting it must have been.

And obviously, Kieswetter did not do it on his own. He clearly had a team of people who were happy to support him and understood his vision.

I’m sure some of those people, perhaps many of those people, were those who had worked at SARS before Tom Moyane, appointed by Jacob Zuma, took it over and destroyed it.

Often in life you can work for a company or a team or an institution and eventually things change, and that institution is weakened or damaged. But it hardly ever happens that you actually get the chance to go and repair the damage.

So I’m sure people jumped at the chance, especially if they had been pushed out by Moyane and those around him. And well done to them, it can be hard to go back to an institution that has abused you, or treated you badly. Even if you now know that there is new leadership.

But we should not forget what an exceptional leader of SARS Kieswetter has proven to be.

As he reminded us during his final announcement of the revenue received by SARS at the end of the financial year on Wednesday, he grew up in a township.

And somehow ended up running the Wilge power station for Eskom (this potted history of the facility includes important information about its bowls club) before going to Megawatt Park.

If you had to look at all of the damage wrought by Zuma and his cronies, and the Guptas, and people like Brian Molefe (who seems to have drawn his cash in all sorts of interesting places) it was probably the damage at SARS that could be among the most serious.

If we don’t have a working tax system, if the powerful are able to evade it, we won’t have a working state.

It is amazing that of all the institutions damaged by Zuma, SARS is the one that recovered the most quickly.

Yes, the Nugent Commission findings helped, so did people who wanted to go back to SARS.

But Kieswetter must have played a major role. It’s hard to imagine who could have done it in his stead.

We must celebrate the story of Kieswetter, the people around him, and SARS for another reason.

It reminds us, so importantly, that institutions can be fixed and reformed. That in fact, if you have the right team, the right direction, the right support and crucially, leadership, things can get better.

SARS is a good example to the rest of the state.

We should point at SARS every day and ask the NPA, the Road Accident Fund, whatever, if SARS can be fixed, why not you?

Yes, there is something and someone to celebrate this weekend. So go out and do that.

And remember to pay your tax. DM