WITS ACCOUNTING students should not worry about the relationship the firm has with the accounting faculty as sponsorships, internships and employment opportunities will still be available to them.
This is according to KPMG spokesperson, Nqubeko Sibiya, who told Wits Vuvuzela that, “We are looking forward to welcoming them to a strong team of 3 400 skilled professionals committed to take KPMG forward.” He also said that although Wits, along with other entities, has decided not to extend its contract with KPMG, the firm is working “tirelessly to enhance the business”and to repair its reputation.
This follows the announcement by Wits Vice-Chancellor Adam Habib that the university would not renew its contract with the auditing firm at the end of the 2017 financial year.
Habib said in a statement released on Wednesday, October 4, that, “The company should have embarked on programmes to correct the wrongs that have been done to individuals and institutions and an independent investigation should have been initiated at the outset.”
The auditing firm has been on the ropes ever since revelations from leaked emails
that work it had done for companies owned by the politically-connected Gupta family facilitated state capture.
KMPG also withdrew a report it had prepared for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) on a so-called rogue unit, that had pitted SARS
Commissioner Tom Moyane against then minister of finance, Pravin Gordhan.
Newly-appointed CEO of KPMG, Nhlamulo Dlomu, has committed the firm to donate R40 million to education and anticorruption, not-for-profi t organisations.
The figure is based on the total fees earned from Gupta related entities to which KPMGSouth Africa provided services from 2002.Dlomu also said that, “These events do
not represent KPMG, our people or the values we have adhered to over decades of committed client service. My pledge and promise to the country is that we can will regain the public’s confidence.”
Fourth-year accounting science studentShivant, who preferred not to have his surname published, said that if KPMG offered him a position he would not accept it because independence is key in the auditing fraternity. He added that student graduates would not be able to make a huge change at the firm because, “The culture of the firm comes from the board and as a graduate you’d start at a junior position with very little influence.”
Shivant said that he believes the only way to bring change in South Africa’s auditing field is for young auditors to start their own firms and challenge the monopoly of the “big four” – Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and KPMG.
The Accountancy Head of School could not be reached for comment regarding the relationship between KPMG and the faculty by the time of going to print.
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