Outgoing Deloitte CEO: There are things that we could have done better

"It's been a big run for ten years, 28 years at the same firm. It's time to have new blood," says outgoing Deloitte CEO Lwazi Bam, the day before he officially hangs up his boots.

Bam has been Deloitte Africa CEO for three terms, an anomaly for an auditing firm, where CEOs normally serve for two terms. But when his second term was supposed to end in May 2019, the partners voted for him to stay longer.

At the time, the firm was facing a reputational crisis. Steinhoff's Dutch shareholders were suing Deloitte for alleged failures in picking up fraud in the disgraced retailer's financial statements. PwC had just released its forensic investigation report showing that Tongaat Hulett misstated its assets, inflating its financial position by almost R12 billion. Deloitte was Tongaat’s auditor. (Deloitte was also African Bank's auditor before it was placed under curatorship.)