KPMG, one of the world's big four auditors, were "willing partners in state capture" in South Africa. Now they have been handed over to the IRBA, the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors. Based on my own experience, this could be a a backward step, not a forward step -- a cause for unease. An auditor, under my ministry, was fraudulent. The IRBA themselves alerted me to this, and announced that there was "criminal contravention" of a kind which was "very serious". At first, the IRBA seemed to approach this with great professionalism. But then, strange signs. They obtained statements, not sworn -- they issued ultimatums, not acted on -- they appeared to work with copies of copies -- and so on. I said to the IRBA's Legal Director Jane O'Connor, you talk assertively about prosecuting the auditor, yet your behaviour reveals that this is not where you are headed. Finally the IRBA handed the matter to the police's CCU (Commercial Crimes Unit) "for investigation" -- yet could not produce a CAS number. Without a CAS number, said the CCU's Advocate Ndunyane, there is no investigation. This, then, is the same IRBA which now deals with KPMG, and indirectly with state capture. OBSERVATION: There is something more common than state capture, which is regulatory capture. While I cannot foretell whether that would happen in this case (the IRBA is a regulator), I would hope that those who laid the complaint are watching the signs.
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