Mike Benetello

Mike Benetello is a Partner and Co-Head of the Tax Practice at Bowmans in Johannesburg, specialising in tax advisory law, corporate restructuring, and international tax. He has over 25 years of tax experience, with wide-ranging expertise including mining taxation, corporate restructurings, debt and capital restructures, private equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, deal structuring, post‑deal implementation, dispute resolution, and business rescue taxation.

Mike has advised on significant transactions including a major global logistics company on the acquisition of an African‑based logistics group; a major telecommunications company on the acquisition of a South African ICT group; the carve‑out and sale of non‑core assets for a South African vehicle tracking company; a listed coal mining company on the acquisition of offshore assets; a major mining group on the disposal of its South African assets and re‑domicile of remaining global operations to the UK; a major listed beverage company on the acquisition of brewery operations in Australia; and a listed South African company on the carve‑out and unbundling of mining assets to shareholders. He also advises on tax policy in South Africa, interacting regularly with legislators and regulators, and has obtained Ministerial approval for the ‘upliftment of ring‑fencing provisions’ for a major listed gold mining company.

Mike is a Registered Chartered Accountant (South Africa) and holds an Honours Degree in Accounting and a Higher Diploma in Tax Law from the University of Johannesburg. He is a past chairperson of the SAICA National Tax Committee.

He is ranked in Band 1 for Tax: Consultants by Chambers Global (2026), with clients describing him as "the architect on the tax structuring", "technically very strong", and providing "technical and practical solutions to complex tax matters".