Johannesburg - Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has summoned audit firm KPMG to appear before the committee to explain why it should continue doing business with the State.
"If KPMG is to continue doing business with government departments and state-owned-enterprises, it must provide clarity about various reports on its behaviour that have appeared in the media and which have led to a serious crisis of confidence in its credibility," said Scopa on Monday.
KPMG has been embroiled in controversy since it announced that it was withdrawing its finding and recommendations on the SA Revenue Services’ “rogue unit” report.
The firm said it had also offered to pay back the R23 million in service fee for conducting the investigation or donate the money to a charity of its choice.
The “rogue unit” has been seen by some as responsible for the downfall of various former SARS employees and former finance minister Pravin Gordhan.
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Scopa said that KPMG’s sudden withdrawal of some aspects of its SARS report point to questions about the firm’s integrity.
“KPMG’s unexplained withdrawal of a SARS report and its work in the integrated financial management system (IFMS) project, in which it was paid almost R5 million before delivering on the contract raise questions about its integrity,” said Scopa chairperson Themba Godi.
“Private audit firms must demonstrate that they have integrity and work in the public interest, beyond simply making a profit. Scopa will not hesitate to call on government not to use certain audit firms if they are found to be unethical."
SARS commissioner Tom Moyane also took issue with KPMG’s decision and said the revenue service would take legal action against the firm and also report it to various bodies and to Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba.