The Minister of Finance, Mr Tito Mboweni, appointed this selection Panel to interview and recommend to the President of the Republic of South Africa a shortlist of candidates for the position of the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (Sars). The vacant post of Commissioner of Sars was advertised in the media and online on 16 December 2018, with the closing date on 18 January 2019.

The Nugent Commission Report (Second Interim Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Tax Administration and Governance by the Sars) of 9 November 2018 recommended that the process to be followed by the President for the appointment of the Commissioner of Sars (refer to paragraph [40] on pages 186-187 and paragraph 16.3 on pages 197-198 in the Report) should be transparent, and this involved the appointment of a selection panel whose members “…should be apolitical and not answerable to any constituency, and should be persons of high standing who are able to inspire confidence across the tax-paying spectrum”.

The criteria against which shortlisted applicants should be evaluated for suitability are also outlined in the Report.

The President approved that the Minister of Finance oversee the initial steps of the appointment process, including the appointment of the selection panel (the Panel), the shortlisting of names by the Panel for interviewing, and to submit its recommendations to the Minister, a list of suitable and competent persons for the consideration of the President to appoint as Commissioner of Sars.

This selection Panel was appointed for this purpose, to provide an independent, unbiased and transparent procedure of assessing applicants.