Global auditor KPMG cleared out its South African leadership on Friday after damning findings from an internal investigation into work done for businessmen friends of President Jacob Zuma.
KPMG's investigation into its work for the Guptas, accused by a public watchdog of improperly influencing government contracts, did not identify any evidence of illegal behaviour or corruption. But it did find that work done for Gupta family firms "fell considerably short of KPMG's standards", the auditor said in a statement.
It became the third global firm to be damaged by work carried out for the Indian-born brothers, after public relations agency Bell Pottinger - whose British business collapsed this week - and consultancy McKinsey.
Both Mr Zuma and the Guptas deny wrongdoing and say they are victims of a politically motivated witch-hunt. The Guptas and their companies have not been charged with any crime, but the scandal is one of many that have dogged the Zuma presidency.
"This has been a painful period and the firm has fallen short of the standards we set for ourselves, and that the public rightly expects from us," KPMG's new South African chief executive Nhlamu Dlomu said.
"I want to apologise to the public, our people and clients for the failings that have been identified by the investigation."
KPMG said it would donate the 40 million rand (US$3m) it earned in fees from Gupta-controlled firms to charity and refund 23m rand it earned compiling a controversial report for the South African tax service.
South African chief executive Trevor Hoole, chairman Ahmed Jaffer, chief operating officer Steven Louw and five senior partners all resigned.
"I absolutely understand that ultimate responsibility lies with me," Mr Hoole said in a statement.
KPMG is also seeking to take disciplinary action to dismiss Jacques Wessels, the lead partner on audits of Gupta-linked firms, it said. Wessels did not answer a call to his mobile phone seeking comment.
Andrew Cranston, former chief executive of KPMG in Russia, has been appointed as interim chief operating officer.
Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, called for a criminal probe.
"While I welcome these resignations, anyone who is involved in state capture must be criminally prosecuted," said Mr Maimane, using a term denoting illicit outside influence on government decision-making.
"KPMG must be subject to a full investigation both locally and internationally," he told Reuters.
The audit firm is still under investigation by South Africa's IRBA, the auditors' regulatory body. Its lightest sanction is a caution or reprimand; the heaviest would be removal from the auditors' register, which would have a devastating impact on KPMG's African business.
The three Gupta brothers, Atul, Ajay and Rajesh, came to South Africa in the early 1990s and built a commercial empire stretching from computers to mining and media.
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The family has employed Zuma's son Duduzane as a director of one of its subsidiaries. The brothers have rejected the public watchdog's accusations of corruptly influencing Zuma.
The turmoil at KPMG follows the placing into administration of the British arm of Bell Pottinger on Tuesday, after clients deserted it because of a backlash over a racially charged political campaign it ran for the Guptas.
Global consultancy McKinsey is also being investigated by South Africa's parliament over whether it knowingly let funds from state power utility Eskom be diverted to a Gupta company as a way of securing a $78m contract to advise Eskom.
McKinsey is carrying out its own investigation, but has denied wrongdoing.
The Gupta scandals have piled pressure on Zuma and opened a deep divide in the ruling African National Congress, the party that has ruled since Nelson Mandela swept to power at the end of apartheid in 1994. It is due to elect a new party leader in December.
David Lewis, chief executive of Corruption Watch, an NGO that has been at the forefront of efforts to expose alleged wrongdoing by the Guptas and those around them, said he doubted that KPMG had really turned over a new leaf.
"Good riddance - it's great they've gone," he said. "But it's got to go to the culture of the firm, quite frankly. I doubt that people of that seniority were conducting themselves in a manner that doesn't reflect the culture of the firm."
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
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- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
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THE%20SPECS
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Company%20Profile
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Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
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RESULT
Manchester United 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Man United: Sanchez (24' ), Herrera (62')
Spurs: Alli (11')
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
