KPMG is to cut 400 jobs in South Africa following a corruption scandal which saw the accountancy firm lose several of its major clients.

One of the customers to cut ties was South Africa’s Auditor-General’s office, which terminated all government work with KPMG in April.

In a statement the company said it would keep four hubs in the country but was cutting regional offices.

KPMG CEO Nhlamulo Dlomu is quoted saying:

Because of the losses we’ve seen there, it has become difficult to retain those offices and so we are refocusing the business to be able to respond to some of the losses that we’ve seen in the client environment."

 

The auditor’s reputation plummeted after an internal investigation found it had missed “red flags” in its auditing of companies owned by the controversial Indian-born Gupta family.

The Gupta brothers have strong ties with Jacob Zuma, who resigned as president earlier this year.

They have been accused of vetting ministerial appointments and of using their influence to siphon money from state contracts - allegations they deny.

KPMG has also appointed some of its international partners to its South African board in an effort to restore its dented reputation.