BAD-APPLE

hat do Steinhoff’s former CEO Markus Jooste, ex-eskom finance boss

Anoj Singh and one-time Gupta auditor Jacques Wessels have in common?

You’d be right if you said state capture, allegations of fraud or unethical behaviour.

But you’d be forgiven for not guessing they are all members in good standing of the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica).

Telling, isn’t it, that a professional body – which has emblazoned on its latest annual report the motto “Towards an empowered, ethical and successful SA” – would allow its own members to fall so short of the standards it professes to uphold.

The much-bemoaned state of the audit and accounting professions — laid bare by a growing list of scandals including Steinhoff, Eskom, KPMG, the Guptas and VBS Mutual Bank – has cast a glaring spotlight on Saica’s own shortcomings.

The picture isn’t reassuring. And this has led to a growing number of the institute’s 43,000 members demanding that action be taken against delinquent accountants to protect the brand equity of their own Chartered Accountant of SA — CA (SA) — designation.

Only 10%-15% of Saica members are registered auditors and therefore regulated by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (Irba). The rest are, in effect, selfregulated.

Saica hasn’t questioned “the value of the right to add CA (SA) behind your name,” says Trevor Manuel. “Is it still cherished? There may have been a time when membership meant something and CAS wore that with pride,” the former finance minister and current Old Mutual Ltd chair tells the FM.

“It’s as if we should raise a glass of champagne to Saica’s decision to prosecute Singh, when they don’t seem to know that Jooste also attaches those letters [CA (SA)] to his name.”

Craig Butters, a portfolio manager at Prudential Investment Managers, says he is still proud of the designation and the profession.

Butters has been in contact with Saica since January, expressing concern over its failure to act against Jooste and its tendency to “outsource important investigations”.

“The increasingly frustrating perception that Saica is no more than a ‘club’ needs to be addressed and dispelled,” Butters says.

More than five months on, he remains concerned about the state of the profession and says the implications of Saica “sitting back and doing nothing” are far-reaching.

“We need to show leadership and act decisively to protect the reputation and integrity of our profession.”

Ticking boxes and signing declarations is meaningless if this is not backed up with action against transgressors, he says.

After a column in the FM, Cullen Penny, a financial manager at a Cape Town-based law firm, went as far as to resign as a Saica member because of its lack of action against Jooste and Singh — he thinks both should be suspended immediately following the outcome of a hearing — and its failure to sanction other high-profile delinquent members.

Singh has appeared before Saica’s professional conduct committee and is to face a disciplinary hearing.

“Saica is on the back foot and is not being proactive,” Penny tells the FM. For example, he says, Saica did nothing in reaction to