Botswana operations not affected by SA scandal � KPMG
Brian Benza | Thursday September 21, 2017 15:41
In a statement, Dixon-Warren said it was business as usual at the Botswana office, where the company is involved in high profile works such as the liquidation process of BCL Mine as well as KFC Botswana. “Stakeholders of KPMG may understandably be concerned as to whether the developments in South Africa will impact on the firm’s activities in Botswana.
“Here in Botswana, we will continue with business as usual and the firm will continue to service our clients drawing on our pool of over 100 talented staff members, supported by our partners and associate directors, as well as our other colleagues in the region and internationally,” he said.
KPMG on Friday removed the leadership team of its South African arm after an internal investigation into work it did for the Gupta family.
Chief executive Trevor Hoole, chairman Ahmed Jaffer, chief operating officer Steven Louw and five other senior partners all left the firm.
No evidence of corruption or illegal action by staff was found, KPMG said. But KPMG said work done for the Guptas, who have close links to President Jacob Zuma, “fell short of our standards”.
Apart from the Gupta family-linked controversies, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has also said it will launch legal proceedings against KPMG due to reputational damage caused by the auditor releasing details of a confidential report it produced for the tax agency, commissioner, Tom Moyane said on Monday. Moyane said SARS would report KPMG to Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, with a view to blacklisting the auditor for its ‘unethical’ and ‘unlawful’ behaviour. The KPMG South Africa Board has since selected Nhlamu Dlomu, an experienced partner in the firm, as the new chief executive officer.
Dixon-Warren said KPMG is now seconding a number of very experienced partners from around the world to assist the South African firm fulfil its key role in the regional markets and communities and provide the global level standard of service going forward that is expected of KPMG.
“The partners and staff of KPMG in Botswana wish to reassure our stakeholders and the public that we remain committed to our clients, our vision to be the clear choice and our purpose to inspire confidence and empower change,” added Dixon-Warren.
In Botswana KPMG provides tax and advisory to both public sector and private sector clients and is the auditor of listed companies including Choppies, Barclays, Standard Chartered and large parastatals of Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC), Botswana Building Society (BBS), Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) and Bank of Botswana amongst others.
KPMG South Africa has said they will donate the R40 million it earned in fees from Gupta-controlled firms to charity and refunded the R23 million it earned compiling a controversial report for the South African tax agency.