SARS was established in 1997 by a merger of the customs and inland revenue departments, at the recommendation of the Katz Commission, which had been instituted to review the South African tax system for the post-apartheid era.

[3][4][5][6] However, between 2014 and 2018, the agency's tax collection and investigative capacities were severely undermined, or even "decimated,"[7] as a result of a restructuring which has been called a "premeditated offensive,"[8] allegedly calculated to enable the capture of SARS.

Three months later, on 9 August, the Governor-General, Herbert Gladstone, retroactively appointed Joseph Clerc Sheridan, Esq., as the acting Commissioner for Inland Revenue with effect from 1 July 1910.

"[16] At the time that the transition to democracy was completed in 1994, South Africa was marked by immense income inequality and by a long history of tax avoidance, which had been used as a means of protest against the colonial and apartheid governments.

[17] In 1994, the first post-apartheid government instituted the Katz Commission to review the tax structure in South Africa, with an eye to modernising it in line with international best practice and improving its equity and efficiency.

[18][19] Gordhan is the longest-serving Commissioner to date, having held the role from November 1999 to May 2009, and by the end of his tenure SARS was widely acclaimed as a "success story"[6] or "model public institution.

[20] In March 2013, however, a recording was leaked to the media of part of a phone call in which Magashula improperly offered a top SARS job to a young female chartered accountant.

[22][23] Magashula resigned, apologising for the "inappropriate conversation," which he said had been "banter" and did not reflect any intention to subvert proper recruitment processes.

In February of that year, amaBhungane published a story about an initiative to restructure the key Large Business Centre at SARS.

[8] The Executive Committee of SARS had by the end of 2015 "been denuded of virtually all the management and skills that had existed when Mr Moyane arrived.

[8] Gordhan, then Minister of Finance and reportedly clashing with Moyane on several fronts, attempted unsuccessfully to block the restructuring in 2016, raising concerns about its likely effects on the agency's capacity.

[41] Among the detrimental consequences of the restructuring later identified by the Nugent Commission were that non-compliance became easier; that some 200 managers were displaced from their former positions and often relegated to less meaningful roles; that SARS's relationship with other state institutions, and its international reputation, suffered; and that SARS's measures to counter criminality were "rendered ineffective," to the benefit of the illicit tobacco trade in particular.

[10] On 12 October 2014, shortly after Moyane's appointment, the Sunday Times reported that one of the SARS investigative units had gone "rogue," and had broken into Zuma's home to plant listening devices.

Moyane appointed KPMG at a cost of R23 million[44] to perform investigations "focused on the conduct of" four employees cited in the Sikhakhane report, one of whom was former acting Commissioner Pillay.

Other senior managers and investigators also departed, under similar circumstances and amid public perception that they had been "driven out" of[8] or "purged" from[45][46] SARS.

[45] The Sunday Times, which broke many of the rogue unit stories, has since faced criticism for having been "drawn into an elaborate cloak-and-dagger campaign to discredit SARS"[51] and for exhibiting "poor journalistic standards"[43] – or, in Jacques Pauw's words, for "arguably the worst journalism that has ever been perpetrated in this country.

"[42] In December 2015, the Press Ombudsman found that its coverage of the rogue unit allegations had been "inaccurate, misleading and unfair,"[51] and the Times published an apology admitting to factual errors and other missteps.

[59] The Pretoria High Court overturned the recommendation, finding that the relevant part of Mkhwebane's report was "vague, contradictory and/or nonsensical.

In his February 2018 State of the Nation address, newly elected President Cyril Ramaphosa committed to "stabilise and strengthen" SARS, and to restore its credibility.

[8] The commission's interim report, released in October 2018, recommended that Moyane should immediately be fired, on the basis that there had been "at least reckless mismanagement" under his tenure which "ought not to be permitted to continue.

[71] The final report was released in December[67][72] and concluded that SARS had been subject to extreme mismanagement along the lines discussed above, amounting to what it called a "catastrophe.

Kieswetter is the former SARS Deputy Commissioner and former chief executive officer of financial services provider Alexander Forbes, and his appointment was recommended by an independent selection panel chaired by former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.

[77][78] Since 2019, Kieswetter has spoken publicly about his efforts to rebuild the agency's capacity and reputation following the "massive failure in governance and integrity" within SARS between 2014 and 2018.