Barry Hore, regarded as one of South Africa’s top IT and operational leaders, is leaving the South African Revenue Service (Sars). He will depart at the end of this month after more than eight years at the tax authority, during which time he has served in a number of roles, including as chief information officer and more recently as chief operating officer.

Hore said that he had agreed with Ivan Pillay, Sars’s acting commissioner at the time, to stay on as chief operating officer until a new, permanent commissioner was appointed.

The move is a big loss for Sars. Under Hore’s leadership, the revenue service undertook a comprehensive modernisation programme. This “transformed Sars operations from a largely paper-based operating system to an almost completely automated environment with significant benefits to both taxpayers and the institution”, the agency said in a statement.

Hore, a former MD of technology and operations at Nedbank, led the team that developed and introduced e-filing in South Africa.

Sars is widely regarded as one of government’s best-run agencies.

“The Sars modernisation journey towards a mostly digital operating environment has positioned it as a global leader in the use of technology,” said commissioner Tom Moyane.

“The ability to build a team that has operated at the highest levels of proficiency in this complex environment is, for me, one of the greatest achievements.”

Moyane has appointed Sars’s group executive for audit, Jonas Makwakwa, as acting chief operating officer until a suitable replacement can be found.

Meanwhile, Business Day reported on Monday that instability at Sars has led to fears about its ability to meet demanding revenue targets amid slow economic growth.

Last week, the service suspended former acting commissioner Pillay and strategic planning executive Peter Richer following revelations about a secret intelligence unit in which the two men were allegedly involved. — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media