Auditors betray trust

The failure of the auditing profession to maintain its professional stature is a disease worse than the one that infects South African politics.

During the Zuma regime our politics was infected by a contagious disease: corruption. The symptoms are the condoning of unethical, immoral self-enrichment practices. The old saying “never trust a politician” has became a reality.

Corruption is a contagious disease that has spread throughout our government departments, municipalities, state-owned enterprises and other state institutions. It is still undetected and undiagnosed in many government services.

I never thought we would have a new saying: “never trust an auditor”, yet the auditing profession has become infected by a similar disease. Symptoms are observed where the integrity required of the audit professional is compromised.

Auditors have betrayed the public trust placed in them. Auditing is not about the subtle nuanced games business people play to obtain or retain business contracts. That game is not part of the auditing profession. The audit company may lose a contract by not playing along, but auditing is supposed to be a profession. The essential guiding principle of a profession is integrity.

SA’s economic and social health cannot afford “sick” auditors infected by this disease. The contagion must be isolated and infected auditors must be placed in isolation so they cannot contaminate others. Thereafter they need to be sent to rehabilitation wards where they can be reorientated to the essential principles of audit integrity. The worst cases need to be sent to the desert (prison) for treatment.

Ron Legg Hillcrest