IT governance emphasised by SA's accounting, auditing institutions

The importance of IT governance was emphasised by South Africa's accounting and audit fraternity when the South African Institute of Charted Accountants (SAICA) and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association of South Africa (ISACA South Africa) recently formalised their relationship with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.

The two associations are seeking to collaborate with one another to promote the importance of IT governance to industry in southern Africa.

Matsobane Matlwa, SAICA's Executive President, draws attention to the changing regulatory and business landscape, including changes to the new Companies Act, as part of the rationale for his institute to partner with ISACA.

“While eliminating the need for audits for various categories of companies, the Act will inevitably increase the need for other forms of governance and control, including increased reliance on systems – hence the need for closer collaboration with credible IT audit and control organisations like ISACA.”

“With the advent of the King III report there is a major emphasis on IT governance and assurance. Therefore it is crucial for small accounting and audit firms to acquaint themselves with IT governance and understand how that will become the order of the day in business,” says Matlwa.

SAICA, South Africa's pre-eminent accountancy body, is widely recognised as one of the world's leading accounting institutes. It provides a wide range of support service to more than 29 000 members who are chartered accountants [CAs(SA)], most of whom play a significant role in the nation's economic development.

ISACA's South African Chapter is an internationally affiliated professional membership association representing IT governance, security and assurance professionals. Its mission is to maintain its leadership position in knowledge, certifications, community, advocacy and education in IT assurance and security, enterprise governance of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance.

“Essentially,” says Winston Hayden, ISACA SA's Vice-President, “the memorandum is designed to demonstrate that the two bodies are supporting one another; that they recognise and respect one another as important role players in South Africa's accounting and information technology environment. We are delighted to partner with SAICA, as a leading accounting body in South Africa.”

Hayden points out that both associations are based on professional values and the development of professional competencies consisting of the knowledge, skills and attitudes of their respective members.

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