SAICA’s revised by-laws include enhancements to the Institute’s disciplinary process

Johannesburg, 21 May 2020 – One of the key roles of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) is to protect the reputation of the Chartered Accountants South Africa [CA(SA)] brand, which in recent times has been tainted by numerous public allegations of misconduct against SAICA members. Until now, SAICA has been reacting to these developments with disciplinary investigations within the powers and procedures granted in its disciplinary process as provided for in the SAICA by-laws. However, these powers and procedures were seen by many as inadequate and some people have expressed their frustration with the limitations on public disclosure as well as the time it takes to deal with these matters.

SAICA is pleased to announce that the revision of the SAICA by-laws has now been completed following several months of engagement with legal advisors, SAICA’s Board and its Social and Ethics Committee.

The new by-laws include enhancements to SAICA’s current disciplinary process, such as the publication of guilty findings, specific conditions under which the Board may cancel membership, as well as new mechanisms to differentiate between more serious cases of punishable conduct and lesser offences. The new by-laws will be effective from the 1st of June, 2020.

“I trust that the revised by-laws will help SAICA to make good strides in improving the efficiency of our disciplinary processes and subsequently enable us to not only serve our members’ interests but also the public interest. We are doing all we can to restore trust in the profession and ensure that our members, irrespective of the roles they occupy, re-commit to putting the public interest first,” said Freeman Nomvalo, SAICA’s Chief Executive Officer.

Visit SAICA’s dedicated Governance website for more information on the revised by-laws. Any questions and queries relating to the transitional provisions between the old and new by-laws can be sent to ***@saica.co.za.

SAICA Media Contacts

Kulani Chauke

Project Manager: Corporate Communications

SAICA Brand Division

011 479 0698/071 266 0019

***@saica.co.za