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The Minister of Finance, Mr Chris Liebenberg, has announced the appointment of Mr Piet Liebenberg to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the new South African Revenue Service, which is to be launched on 1 April 1996.

The appointment will take effect on 1 June 1996 and will be for a three year period. In the interim, and until the Board of SARS is appointed, operations will be steered by a management committee consisting of Dr George Lindeque, Reform Project Leader; Messrs Trevor van Heerde, Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Daan Colesky. Commissioner of Customs and Excise, and David Rossouw, Chief Director, Administration.

Mr Piet Liebenberg has had a distinguished career as a banker and is a prominent South African business personality. He currently holds the position of Chief Executive of The Council of Southern African Bankers (COSAB).

Mr Liebenberg qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1961. In 1968 he was appointed General Manager at Trust Merchant Bank. He was co-founder in 1970 and Executive Chairman of Finansbank, a successful independent Merchant Bank, for seventeen years. Finansbank was taken over by the Nedcor Group in 1987, whereupon Mr Liebenberg was appointed Group Chief Executive of Nedcor. After three years with Nedcor he was appointed Executive Chairman of Bankorp from June 1990. Bankorp was taken over by Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) in April 1992. Mr Liebenberg assumed the positions of a Vice-Chairman and a Deputy Chief Executive of ABSA until his early retirement in November 1992.

In July 1993 Mr Liebenberg was appointed Chief Executive of COSAB. He is also currently Chairman of the Board of the Munich Reinsurance Company of Africa Limited.

Mr Liebenberg is an outspoken advocate of business ethics, and was recently appointed Chairperson of the Business against Crime initiative. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Council for Ethics in Economics, Columbus, Ohio.

Commenting on the appointment of Mr Piet Liebenberg to this most crucial position, Mr Chris Liebenberg, Minister of Finance, said that Mr Piet Liebenberg's experience in managing large service organisations was a major contributor to the decision making. His commitment to sound business principles and vast experience in the financial services world were also factors that contributed to his appointment.

In October 1995, Cabinet approved the formation of a new South African Revenue Service, combining the previously separated Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue branches of the Department of Finance. The SARS is to run on modern business lines, with the CEO and Board of Directors answerable to the Ministry of Finance.

ISSUED BY THE MINISTER OF FINANCE CAPE TOWN 28 MARCH 1996

Contact Jennifer Wilson 021 45 7595 OR 082 453 4715

Issued by: Ministry of Finance

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