The troubled South African arm of audit giant KPMG today announced a new chief executive from outside the firm.
It appointed the deputy chief executive of PwC’s South African arm, Ignatius Sehoole, as its new boss, taking over from Nhlamulo Dlomu, who is stepping down after a year.
KPMG has been rocked by a series of scandals in South Africa, leading to reputational damage and client losses.
Chairman of KPMG South Africa Wiseman Nkuhlu said: “While KPMG South Africa has changed substantially over the past year, the challenges facing both KPMG and the profession have intensified.”
Adding: “With this in mind, the board felt it was important to appoint an external candidate to the firm with strong industry credentials.”
The audit firm has been caught up in the scandal surrounding former president Jacob Zuma and the powerful Gupta family, who were close allies of his.
A KPMG internal probe found flaws in the work it had carried out for the Gupta family.
In April it was revealed that one of its auditors had failed to disclose loans from a failed small bank he was auditing, leading to clients such as the South African government and banking group Absa to stop working with KPMG.
KPMG South Africa said it was co-operating with authorities and working to address its shortcomings.
British PR firm Bell Pottinger collapsed last year after clients abandoned it after it was found to have played on racial feeling in South Africa in its work for the Gupta family.
The Gupta family and Zuma have denied all wrongdoing.
