The following is the News flash 2023/21 published by the PAGSA on June 26, 2023
regarding the Welcome to Niel Nel.

WELCOME NIEL NEL TO THE PAGSA MANCO

While he was welcomed in the PAGSA AGM held on 21 June 2023, it is a great pleasure to formally welcome Niel Nel to the PAGSA Management Committee (Manco) after his retirement earlier this year after 47 years of long and outstanding service in many different areas for SARS.

Niel started working for SARS when it was still Inland Revenue in 1977. He enjoyed a mandatory 15-month army-break and then worked in different operational sections in the Port Elizabeth Branch Office, Port Elizabeth Decentralised Training Centre, and Pretoria Head Office. During his time in the Port Elizabeth Branch Office, he acquired a National Diploma in Tax and Financial Accounting.

In 1994, Niel was instrumental in the implementation of the Employees’ Tax (PAYE) system which was previously only a manual record of employers. The new system included an online registration process, an accounting system, and various automated follow-up processes for internal use.

In 1999/2000, after consulting widely with external stakeholders, the pre-printed IRP5/IT3(b) PAYE certificates were replaced by the first version of what we have now, the codified electronic certificates.

This initiative resulted in employers saving significantly on the cost of purchasing blank tax certificates in triplicate continuous stationery and book format, to say nothing of the reduction to the huge administration burden of printing these certificates, recording serial numbers, and delivering them to SARS.

The new codified tax certificates were submitted to SARS by employers via floppy or stiffy disks as online submission channels were not available at the time. The SARS internal manual PAYE reconciliation process was then automated in 2002/2003, with systematic follow-up processes.

During 2000, Niel managed the implementation of the Skills Development processes in SARS as well as the UIF Contribution processes in 2002. The PAYE, SDL and UIF Contribution processes were integrated during the implementation of the UIF Contribution process.

Niel also assisted with the implementation of the Employment Tax Incentive in 2014.

Although Niel collaborated with the PAGSA and other external stakeholders over the years, he was tasked to manage the SARS/PAGSA relationship (as the SARS ‘PAYE Champion’ for the PAGSA) from March 2020 until his retirement from
SARS on 31 January 2023.

The formal date of Niel’s appointment to the PAGSA Manco was 1 March 2023, but he was helping the PAGSA before then and is already making a massive contribution to the roll-out of the monthly tax certificate project.

On a personal note, I (Rob Cooper) have had many productive and pleasant interactions with both Niel and Rhona van Taak since the late 1980’s and it is a pleasure for me to now work with both of them within the PAGSA.