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Johannesburg - The head of KPMG in South Africa said the embattled auditor would be appearing before Parliament's watchdog committee Scopa on Thursday, and promised to answer all questions.
KPMG SA CEO Nhlamu Dlomu said that she, KPMG SA head of public sector Modise Maseng, and the interim chair of the auditor's policy board Gary Pickering would "address all of the Committee’s questions" when they appear before the standing committee on public accounts.
She also vowed to fully cooperate with the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditor (IRBA) in its inquiry into KPMG's conduct in handling the SA Revenue Service's (SARS) so-called 'rogue unit' report.
KPMG clients including Sasfin Wealth, Hulisani Ltd, Munich Re and most recently Wits University have cut their ties to the firm, following the fall out from its years-long work for the Gupta family, and its role in authoring the 'rogue unit' report.
Investigation
On Tuesday the IRBA told Scopa that it was "likely" to investigate the conduct of the individual auditor who signed off on the forensic investigation into the 'rogue unit.
The report as a whole could not be investigated, however, as it was of a forensic nature and therefore did not fall within the mandate of IRBA, according to its CEO Bernard Agulhas.
“We have established that the individual auditor who signed off on the forensic report is registered with IRBA and we will know soon if we will investigate the conduct,” he said.
The regulatory board is responsible for regulating the conduct of auditors and auditing firms in South Africa
Independent Inquiry
Dlomu, who was promoted to KPMG SA's new CEO last month after the firm's top executive structure was cleared out, also gave an update on the status of the independent inquiry into KPMG.
This inquiry was announced by KPMG International's chairperson John Veihmeyer on September 22.
"The Inquiry will be fully independent and the panel will be led by two experienced senior counsels. The panel members, the scope of the inquiry, terms of reference and the estimated duration of the Inquiry will be announced on 12 October 2017," said Dlomu.
Bloomberg reported earlier on Wednesday that a number of South Africa banks were stepping up pressure on KPMG to promise to make the inquiry's results public.
Dlomu said they would be.
"The findings of the Independent Inquiry will be made public,' she said. "KPMG SA is fully committed to cooperating with the Independent Inquiry."
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