Wits drops KPMG as their internal auditor

The University of Witwatersrand (Wits) has become the latest client to drop KPMG as their auditor.

Wits said in a statement on Wednesday the university council had decided on Friday not to renew its contract with KPMG for internal auditing and financial risk management services at the end of the current financial year.

The decision was taken after meetings with new KPMG CEO Nhlamu Dlomu‚ international KPMG representatives and members of the University Council’s Audit and Council Risk committees.

"The committees acknowledged that KPMG did take some actions‚ including releasing the CEO‚ COO and a number of senior partners to mitigate the reputational damage that it suffered as a result of its relationship with Gupta associated companies and its complicity in the SARS report but felt that KPMG had not gone far enough‚" Wits said.

"Further‚ it was agreed that KPMG had not been sufficiently transparent and that it is hard to reconcile KPMG’s conclusion that no one did anything illegal‚ when senior individuals have been dismissed and the SARS report has been retracted. In these circumstances‚ the Council believes that it would have been prudent to acknowledge the ethical and legal lapses of KPMG’s senior management team."

PWC will remain the university’s external auditors.

Wits joins the parliament‚ the Parmed board‚ the African branch of the Germany's Munich Re‚ Sygnia Asset Management‚ Sasfin and Hulisani as some of the companies that have dropped KPMG South Africa as other clients re-evaluate their relationship and pressure mounts on KPMG.