Johannesburg – The Ntsebeza Inquiry faces a roadblock when investigating individuals who are not members of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).
The inquiry was launched by SAICA to independently investigate allegations that some of its members employed by KPMG may have contravened the institute’s code of professional conduct.
It is specifically investigating the work that certain KPMG employees did for Gupta-linked firms from January 2013 onward.
Some of the submissions the inquiry received implicate former and current KPMG employees who are not SAICA members. This means the accounting body will not be able to investigate these individuals’ conduct.
In a statement issued on behalf of the inquiry on Friday, chairperson of the inquiry Adv. Dumisa Ntsebeza said: “It is clear from the submissions received that our attention is going to span across the public and private sectors and into personal matters.”
Two submissions have reached the hearing stages. The statement refers to one of the submissions as a matter concerning a SAICA member who acted in the capacity of executor of a deceased estate.
The second submission relates to a “forensic investigation whose outcomes are queried by the complainant on the basis that the professionals, in the execution of their duties, did not conduct themselves in a manner to be expected of professionals in their position”.
SAICA’s Code of Professional Conduct has changed over the period of the allegations made in the submissions. Ntsebeza said this makes it difficult to assess if members have contravened the code.
“Luckily there do not seem to be many fundamental differences in the versions,” Ntsebeza said.
More testimonies will be heard at the inquiry on Monday.
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