Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has appointed the country’s first female Tax Ombud.
Yanga Mputa, took office from July 1 for a period of five years, taking over the reigns from Professor Thabo Legwaila, who has been acting in the role since October 2022 after the term of the first tax ombud, Judge Bernard Ngoepe, ended in September.
According to Treasury, the ombud served as a crucial mechanism for ensuring fairness, accountability, and transparency in the tax system, by acting as an independent and impartial arbitrator between taxpayers and the tax authority.
Mputa is an admitted attorney, who joined the National Treasury in 2014 as chief director: Legal Tax Design.
Prior to this, she was a tax specialist at the South African Revenue Service from 2009.
Mputa holds BProc and LLB degrees from the former University of Transkei, an LLM degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, an MCom in international tax from North-West University (Potchefstroom), and a postgraduate diploma in Tax Law from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“By providing a readily accessible avenue for recourse to both individuals and businesses, the tax ombud contributes greatly to maintaining public trust in the tax system, something we cannot take for granted,” Godongwana said.
“The Office of the Tax Ombud also promotes compliance while safeguarding the rights of taxpayers, aiding our goal as the government of an equitable and efficient tax administration.
“I have full faith in Ms Mputa’s ability to take up this challenge and continue the good work the Tax Ombud has already achieved, even though she will be greatly missed at the National Treasury.”
Godongwana thanked Judge Ngoepe for his leadership in establishing the Office of the Tax Ombud.
“I also want to thank Professor Legwaila for acting for the period 6 October 2022 to 6 April 2023, and wish him all the best as he returns to his position as CEO of the Office of the Tax Ombud.”
Cape Times