James Gourrah, chair of the Institute of Internal Auditors SA (IIA), says Steinhoff, VBS Mutual Bank and now Tongaat won't be the last private sector corporate governance scandals to rock SA."Our prediction earlier this year was that there'd be much more to come," he says.This was based on a survey showing an increase in the number of internal auditors being victimised and intimidated by company executives to sweep inconvenient findings under the carpet.One in five internal auditors in the private and public sectors say they would fear for their lives if they exposed questionable activities as their profession has become increasingly dangerous.Gourrah, who was head of internal auditing at Capitec for 13 years, says this is a dead giveaway."Signs of victimisation and intimidation of internal auditors are indications of a toxic culture in an organisation."Last week's announcement that Tongaat is going after former executives, including former CEO Peter Staude, came soon after the r...
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