Adding up the loss sustained by SA auditing
Scandals threaten to erode profession's stock in trade: trust
Those trying to suggest that corruption in the private sector is as bad as that in the public sector following the Steinhoff scandal are misinformed, says Terence Nombembe, the CEO of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Nombembe, 56, was the auditor-general before he joined Saica, and every year exposed the fruitless and wasteful expenditure of billions of rands of taxpayer money. "There is not a prevalence of corporate corruption out there in the capital markets," he says. Those using the Steinhoff scandal to suggest that the private sector is mired in corruption "are wrong, and we need to engage with them to tell them why they are wrong", says Nombembe. Fake news about corruption in the corporate sector is further harming the image of the accounting profession, which has already taken a hammering from the KPMG and Steinhoff scandals. "The image and reputation of the brand have been badly damaged. Public trust has been dented, and that's what basically defines our...
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