STATE CAPTURE: ROUGH OLD WEEK FOR KPMG
It's been a rough old week for KPMG, and it didn't get any easier in Parliament yesterday (Thursday), notes Legalbrief. It has been ordered to provide the memo for the original briefing it got from SARS outlining the scope of the audit firm’s mandate to investigate issues such as the existence of a ‘rogue unit’ at the tax agency, says a Business Day report. MPs demanded that KPMG SA, which has won about 1 301 government projects, stop bidding for lucrative state work. And AG Kimi Makwetu said his office had decided to reduce work awarded to KPMG until the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (Irba) completed its inquiry into the audit firm. New KPMG CEO Nhlamulo Dlomu, flanked by senior management, came in for hard questioning during a Scopa sitting in Parliament yesterday. But, notes Business Day, not a single ANC MP showed up at the start of the marathon sitting, while Nyami Booi recused himself. One ANC MP attended the latter part of the meeting. About a month ago, Booi appeared next to SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane, when the tax authority provided its response to KPMG’s retraction of the recommendations in its report on the ‘rogue unit’. The KPMG officials at yesterday’s sitting could not provide straight answers to pointed questions from MPs, leading to a series of embarrassing admissions. KPMG was also forced into a corner when its officials were asked what they meant when they said KPMG had ‘complied with all reporting requirements’. Pressed on this, the officials said they could not provide details of any criminal complaints filed. Dlomu said KPMG would co-operate with Irba during its inquiry. DA MP David Maynier said he was not convinced by Dlomu and director Gary Pickering’s assurances to Parliament that there were no systemic issues at KPMG. ‘My hypothesis is that there is, in fact, a systemic problem at KPMG SA,’ he said.
PRACTICE: FROM STRUCK OFF ATTORNEY TO ACTING JUDGE
An attorney sanctioned in 2004 by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) for unethical conduct is now acting as a judge of the same court. According to a Netwerk24 report, Gibson Oupa Ngobeni (47) was struck from the roll of attorneys – suspended for three years – for irregularities regarding claims submitted by his firm to LegalWise. Ngobeni's firm also paid commission of 5% to agents of LegalWise to refer clients to him, Judge Chris Botha noted at the time. The judgment also noted that Ngobeni’s signature was affixed to the false compensation claims, but the Law Society could not prove Ngobeni was aware of the false claims submitted by his firm. Ngobeni did, however, admit his office paid commission; that he didn’t sufficiently supervise his office personnel, and didn’t store clients’ information for the prescribed periods. Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo reportedly said he was aware of the judgment against Ngobeni when the acting appointment was made, but that Ngobeni ‘didn’t personally do anything wrong’. Mlambo added that the period of suspension has lapsed and that Ngobeni’s record since had been clean. Ngobeni is acting in the circuit courts in Mpumalanga.
LITIGATION: TOWN'S BUILDINGS ATTACHED TO PAY MUNICIPAL DEBT
The sheriff has attached the buildings of the town of Frankfort in the Free State in compliance with a High Court order, Volksblad reports. This is for the Mafube Municipality’s debt of R16m owed to the Samwu provident fund for contributions deducted from workers’ salaries but not paid over to the pension fund. The Mayor’s official residence, the municipality’s administrative buildings, the city hall and satellite offices of the municipality were all attached to be auctioned in execution of the order. The municipality has 30 days to provide reasons why the fixed assets shouldn’t be sold. Free State MEC for Co-operative Governance, Sisi Ntombela, says a national and provincial task team have been appointed to prevent the sale. ‘We will explain our action plan to the court,’ Ntombela said.
PRACTICE: WHY ENGLISH MUST BE LANGUAGE OF RECORD – CJ
English will be the only language of record in SA courts, according to Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. ‘Nobody is saying South Africans are not permitted to speak in their mother tongue in a court of law. We are just saying, to facilitate efficiency and a smooth running of the court system ... We (should) have everything that is said in a particular case captured in one language that is understood by all the judges – and that language is English,’ he is quoted as saying in a News24 report. ‘We are alive to the reality that language is a very emotive issue. When you don’t allow people to communicate in their mother tongue, they feel disempowered,’ Mogoeng said. He said they had not arrived at the decision lightly, but had felt that what went into the records should be in English. We are here to ensure that there is access to justice for all South Africans… If you are going to insist on changes that require additional resources, we will be more than happy to embrace that.’
LABOUR: ZUMA TOLD TO TRIM BLOATED CABINET, NOT POLICE
The SA Police Union has called on President Jacob Zuma’s administration to reduce the number of Cabinet members instead of endorsing an alleged plan to retrench 3 000 police officers. The Mercury reports Sapu’s call came as uncertainty about the planned retrenchments grew amid a spike in reported incidents of crime. Police spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga denied the retrenchments, saying plans were misinterpreted. He reportedly said all the Police Ministry was doing was to freeze 3 000 posts due to economic constraints. He said it has 195 000 officers on its books and were short of about 3 000 to reach its target. But Sapu was not persuaded by the explanation. General secretary Oscar Skommere lodged a scathing attack against the Zuma administration: ‘Our view is that the governing party should consider retrenching a large number from the executive authority. The national executive is bloated. We have never seen a third world country like ours with so many Ministers and deputy Ministers.’ He said the government needed to employ more officers, instead of retrenching officers, who were already overloaded. Skommere said the Cabinet ‘was an employment agency for cadre deployments to enjoy the gravy train’.
LITIGATION: PISTORIUS FAMILY THREATENS TO SUE OVER MOVIE
Oscar Pistorius’ family says a new film released on Monday showed a ' blatant disregard' for both his and Reeva Steenkamp’s family, and are taking legal action against the movie-makers. According to a TimesLIVE report, the Pistorius family dismissed the movie as a 'gross misrepresentation of the truth' and said neither Oscar, his family nor the defence were involved or consulted about the production. They said the movie was not a true reflection of what occurred on the night Steenkamp was shot dead by Pistorius but was rather a 'representation of what the prosecution tried to portray'. The family’s comments comes after a teaser for the movie, Blade Runner Killer, was released on Monday. TimesLIVE says the movie shows scenes of court proceedings and also what may have happened on the night of the killing. ‘The "film" is a gross distortion of the findings of the court. Oscar was subjected to in depth assessments and on-going tests almost daily for a month long; at no stage was Oscar found to have the mind of a killer?' the family said in a statement. 'We will be taking legal action.' They have called on the film company? Lifetime? to publicly state that the family did not give its endorsement in any way. The report notes Pistorius is serving a six-year jail term for the murder.