LATEST UPDATE
High Court Judgment on Case between the IRBA and the Auditor of a Property Owners’ Association
South Africa’s Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA) was sharply criticised by Judge Mandlenkosi Motha of the High Court in Johannesburg for failing to follow the provisions of the Auditing Professions Act (APA) when investigating a complaint against an auditor. The procedure followed was antithetical to the APA
Thomas Lessing, member of the Serengeti Estates Property Owners Association NPC (Sepoa), brought an application to review and set aside a decision taken by IRBA regarding 10 complaints he lodged against Bartholomew Gormley, the auditor of the estate.
This followed IRBA's decision to find Mr Gormley guilty of one charge, namely improper conduct for charging Sepoa a fee for responding to a complaint lodged with IRBA, and to dismiss the remaining complaints. He was cautioned and fined R40 000, of which R20 000 was suspended for three years.
Gormley confirmed and accepted the findings, and pleaded guilty to the one charge.
IRBA was ordered to pay the costs of the application by Thomas Lessing.
The judgment is available on:
https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAGPJHC/2025/1065.html
The media release is available on:
https://www.fic.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025.10-MR-South-Africa-exits-the-grey-list-.pdf
