in 2016, the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) proposed mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR) in SA.
aims: break market concentration, pursue economic transformation & enhance auditor independence (objectivity).
this is a thread on white corruption in SA:

firstly, it's important to understand auditors: in simple terms, they're independent parties engaged to provide assurance to shareholders that management did what they say they did. they're appointed by the Board, to, effectively, oversee management.

a Board will an Audit Committee, and the Audit Committee will then appoint the auditor.
the auditor will then work with management.
i hope this is a little clear.

this means that the nature of auditing is hugely centered around independence and objectivity; that is, the ability for auditors to complete their professional work without influence from their clients.
this is NB in auditing.

independence is the cornerstone of auditing.
a painful reminder was the firm Arthur Anderson which grew a close and peculiar relationship with one of its clients, Enron. in 2001, Enron was found guilty of 1000 US billion fraud. Arthur Anderson was found complicit.

Arthur Anderson was once part of the Big Five (it, and the current Big Four). and after the scandal, they were eventually forced to close its doors.
and of course, the then partners ended up in Deloitte and KMPG.

another example was the Gupta // KPMG scandal. over-familiarity between an auditor and a client is never good idea.
IRBA understood that when they proposed the MAFR.

i’ll continue this thread later.
by the way, this was my first year English for Academic Purposes research topic. i had such good potential in being an academic