Tag: Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa (IIASA)

Considering the high profile scandals that have dominated news headlines in the last few years, from VBS Mutual Bank to Eskom, it does not seem unreasonable to say that South Africa may have a corporate fraud problem. What’s more, the accounting irregularities that led to shareholders being defrauded and losing significant shareholder value, may have been entirely preventable if the internal auditors had been more empowered, protected and held to the same level of accountability as external auditors, via appropriate regulation of the internal audit industry.

South Africa’s current woes are in large part a result of a large-scale breakdown in ethics (both personal and professional) and good governance practices. One only needs to look at the goings-on at Steinhoff, KPMG, Eskom, SARS and VBS Bank to see the impact that unethical behaviour, large scale looting and unchecked business practices have had on the South African economy and on South Africans, whose confidence in the leadership of this country and those in business is at an all-time low.

Is the accounting profession experiencing a crisis of credibility? Current events locally and internationally are demanding higher levels of accountability in the accounting and auditing professions. Unethical accounting and auditing practices in South Africa have reverberated globally, with the reputations of large accounting and auditing firms severely damaged by their links to public service corruption and financial misrepresentation by large multinational companies like Steinhoff.