KPMG South Africa’s former chief executive Nhlamu Dlomu has moved to the global firm’s offices in Canary Wharf, London and taken up the role of global head of people
As such, she will bring nearly 20 years spent in management consulting in organisational development and human resources, and her own experience in a variety of management roles, including at one of South Africa’s largest banks and later at KPMG.
At the Big Four firm she was head of people and change before being catapulted into the role of CEO of the South Africa practice and senior partner of KPMG Southern Africa in 2017 – the first black African woman to hold the position.
Her promotion was precipitated by the departure of eight of the senior executive team, including chairman Ahmed Jaffer, chief executive Trevor Hoole and COO Steven Louw, over the firm’s relationship with the Gupta family and political corruption.
An internal report found the firm had missed warning signs in the audits of Gupta-controlled companies.
Dlomu’s attempts to rebuild trust in the firm were frustrated by a further scandal over the collapse of audit client VBS Mutual Bank and a haemorrhaging of audit clients.
Just a year later, the global firm decided to bring in an outsider to run the firm. In a statement at the time, it said, “Given the scale of the reputational challenges facing both KPMG and the industry, the board has decided that a new chief executive from outside the firm, with strong industry experience, will optimise prospects of rebuilding trust.”
In November, the firm announced it had appointed former PwC joint deputy chief executive Ignatius Sehoole, who between 2000 and 2009 was the executive president of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, to take on the chief executive role from May 2019.
Sourced from ICAEW - written by Julia Irvine