KPMG mea culpa ... the unanswered questions

Is KPMG’s mea culpa enough for it to survive in this country, or has it irretrievably forfeited SA's trust? Has it really come clean, or is it still covering up dodgy dealings with the Gupta family? Was its SA Revenue Service report malicious in its intent? Was it slanderous? Did it wreck careers? Will it be sued by victims for loss of income? What about the costs to former SARS employees who are still embroiled in litigation? Should KPMG pick up that bill, too? And what about SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane, who was quick to lay charges against people implicated in the alleged unit using the KPMG report as a basis? Where does he stand in all this? These are just some of the many questions that will need to be answered following its embarrassing admission of its lack of integrity and the clear-out of its top brass on Friday, notes Legalbrief. Axed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is among those who believe the auditing giant hasn't revealed all; that it is insincere in its apology; and that it must account for the damage it has caused SA. According to the Sunday Times he is preparing for war against KPMG, and said the firm would have to do more than issue a half-hearted statement when the truth came out. Lashing out at the firm’s 11-page statement released on Friday – in which it admitted missing red flags in dealing with Gupta-owned companies and said it was withdrawing its report on the SARS ‘rogue unit’ – Gordhan said the ‘facts’ would be out in the open soon. ‘What actually happened between their forensic investigators and SARS managers from 2015 and onwards (will soon emerge). We will talk about that in the next 10 days . . . When those facts come out, KPMG will have to issue a 10 to 20-page statement to explain themselves,’ he said. ‘There were a number of problematic instructions and interactions between people in SARS, their lawyers and KPMG investigators, which raises serious concerns over the level of independence that was exercised,’ he is quoted as saying.