The independence of the auditor-general’s office was sacrosanct and could not be jeopardised by the risks that had emerged in relation to certain audit firms, auditor-general Kimi Makwetu said on Friday. Makwetu appeared before Parliament’s standing committee on the auditor-general and the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) to explain why he had terminated the audit mandates of KPMG and Nkonki Inc. He emphasised the need for trust in the work of the auditor-general and its credibility. This was grounded in the independence of the auditor-general’s office. Scopa chairman Thembi Godi agreed. "Reputation is everything. Defend it with your life," he told Makwetu. The auditor-general’s office uses more than 90 audit firms to conduct annual audits of national and provincial government departments, municipalities and state entities. The total bill for this work amounts to about R450m annually, of which KPMG and Nkonki received a combined R90m. The mandates of KPMG and Nkonki Inc...
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