KPMG SA set out to regain public trust

KPMG South Africa has announced it reviewed around 200 files it completed over the last 18 months among other measures.

This is in an effort to regain the public’s trust after it suffered reputational damage following allegations of misconduct in the work it did for Gupta-linked companies.

Last week, two of KPMG’s partners, Sipho Malaba and Dumi Tshuma resigned with immediate effect.

The two had been facing disciplinary charges related to work done for VBS Mutual Bank.

The firm held a press briefing in Johannesburg on Sunday. KPMG says it is deeply disappointed that it is once again in the news for the wrong reasons.

The resignations of Sipho Malaba and Dumi Tshuma have brought into question the rot into the auditing firm, especially at a time when the company is trying to pull itself out of a reputational glut.

KPMG CEO Nhlamu Dlomu says that both cases were connected to VBS Bank and the partner’s failure to comply with the firm’s policies.

The auditing firm says the big banks that it audits which include Barclays Africa and Investec have not been affected by the latest developments.

The SA Reserve Bank, which placed VBS bank under curatorship, has now also commissioned a forensic investigation into the bank’s business affairs.

The firm says it will take what it calls unprecedented steps to gain public trust. These include re-opening files completed in the last 18 months and conducting background checks on all partners and their spouses.

It has so far lost less than 10% of its client base since September 2017.

KPMG has given assurance that an investigation into Malaba and Tshuma will still continue even though they have resigned.

And those additional members will be added to the board of directors in order to strengthen its corporate governance.

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