Auditing firm KPMG had allowed itself to be used for the factional battles of the ANC, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Bonang Mohale said. Speaking to Fin24 on the sidelines of a BLSA event in Cape Town on Thursday, Mohale said KPMG had become involved in state capture, and had let South Africa and the auditing profession down.
"This happened at a time when South Africa's financial services are heralded, celebrated and highlighted as absolutely the best in the world –- where the number one, two and three spots in banking belonged to South African companies," he reportedly said.
BLSA's board announced last week that it would suspend the membership of KPMG pending the outcome of an independent investigation into its involvement in state capture. Eskom and Transnet were also suspended.
Mohale reportedly said KPMG should have spoken up when it was paid R23-million to produce a report, the findings of which it later retracted, effectively accusing the SA Revenue Service (Sars) of running a "rogue unit" that later turned out to be untrue.
This [the payment] was disproportionate and Sars used this to chase the finest among us, such as Pravin Gordhan [former finance minister]. But they kept quiet," Mohale said.