DA calls on KPMG to come clean

15 April 2018

The DA welcomes the announcement by KPMG Chairperson Wiseman Nkhulu of a broad scale review of all KPMG’s work in the past 18 months. This is particularly necessary given the revelation yesterday that two partners, Sipho Malaba and Dumi Tshuma, had resigned when faced with disciplinary charges.

According to an earlier statement, the two partners faced charges relating to a failure to comply with the firm’s policies and procedures relating to the disclosure of financial interests.

As Malaba and Tshuma were intimately involved in the audit of VBS Mutual Bank, I will be writing to Mr. Nkhulu tomorrow to request that he reveal whether either former partner had any financial relationship with VBS Mutual Bank, or any of its investors, the nature of that relationship, and whether any unlawful benefit accrued to either of them.

I have already communicated a request to the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), requesting that they extend their ongoing investigation into KPMG to include the role they played at VBS. The CEO of the IRBA, Bernhard Agulhas, has responded that this will, indeed form part of their investigation.

The Latin phrase “Quis custodiet, ipsos custodes?” means “Who will guard the guardians?” It is particularly apt when referring to the audit profession. KPMG needs to come clean in order to ensure that trust is restored in auditors and that we can get to the bottom of the problems at VBS.

Issued by Kevin Mileham, DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, 15 April 2018