Full Circle Moment for Kieswetter
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP: Commissioner Edward Kieswetter was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business and Management Sciences in Taxation
Monday, 20 April 2026
South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter described receiving an Honorary Doctorate from his alma mater as a full circle moment.
Kieswetter says CPUT is the university that shaped him and thanked the past and present management for changing not only his life, but also that of other young people who look to education to change the trajectory of their lives.
“I started here as a young man trying to get his start in life. It is ironic that it is the impact of the work that I have done over these past decades which brings me back now.
“I came to Peninsula Technikon as an apprentice in 1978. That turned out to be one of the greatest gifts in my life because this institution taught me that theory must connect to application. I walked these grounds back then with remarkable people who expanded my sense of what was possible,” he says.
“I receive this Honorary Doctorate on behalf of all the other young people on the Cape Flats and beyond who have had limits set on their lives,” he told the audience of the final graduation ceremony in the Autumn Grad Series.
Kieswetter had another very special person in the audience, his high school principal Victor Ritchie. Ritchie was a formidable figure in Kieswetter’s life and he credits the former principal of Harold Cressey high for seeing his potential and nurturing it.
Kieswetter was also supported in the audience by his proud family and members of the SARS staff, including the incoming SARS Commissioner Dr Johnstone Makhuba and other senior ranking members of the tax authority.
“The best leaders work themselves out of a job. I am proud to hand over an institution which is better today than when I received it,” he says.
“My legacy is the ethical and disciplined staff who will take it forward.”
Written by Lauren Kansley
Email: KansleyL@cput.ac.za
Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.
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