| (1) | The Regulatory Board must appoint a disciplinary committee, referred to in section 20(2)(f), whose members are independent of the auditing profession, consisting of as many competent members as it may determine necessary to deal with disciplinary hearings in terms of this Act. |
| (2) | The disciplinary committee must have one third of its members being— |
| (a) | persons with at least 10 years’ experience in auditing who were formerly registered as auditors; |
| (b) | advocates or attorneys with at least 10 years’ experience in practicing law; and |
| (c) | other suitably qualified persons as determined by the Regulatory Board. |
(3)
| (a) | No member of the disciplinary committee may— |
| (i) | share, directly or indirectly, in any of the profits or interests of a registered auditor or any person related to a registered auditor; or |
| (ii) | receive payments, excluding pension benefits, from a registered auditor. |
| (b) | For purposes of paragraph (ii) ‘related’ means persons who are connected to one another in any manner contemplated in section 2(1)(a) to (c), read with section 2(2), of the Companies Act, 2008 (Act No. 71 of 2008). |
| (4) | The Regulatory Board must appoint a retired judge or senior counsel as chairperson of the disciplinary committee. |
| (5) | The functions of the chairperson of the disciplinary committee are to— |
| (a) | appoint from among the members of the disciplinary committee a disciplinary hearing panel for every hearing; |
| (b) | monitor consistency in the application of disciplinary hearing rules by disciplinary hearing panels; |
| (c) | facilitate efficient disciplinary hearings; and |
| (d) | perform any other function as prescribed by rules by the Regulatory Board. |
| (6) | Despite section 20(5), read with section 15(4), when the disciplinary committee convenes a disciplinary hearing under section 50, the hearing must be conducted by a panel of at least three members including a member referred to in subsection (2)(a) and a member referred to in subsection (2)(b). |
(7)
| (a) | The chairperson of the disciplinary committee must appoint a member referred to subsection (2)(b) to chair the proceedings of the disciplinary hearing. |
| (b) | The power to appoint a member to chair the proceedings of a disciplinary hearing referred to in paragraph (a) may not be delegated in terms of section 19. |
| (8) | A member of the disciplinary committee may not participate in a panel contemplated in subsection (6) if he or she has an interest in a matter considered by the disciplinary hearing panel. |
| (9) | A person may resign as a member of the disciplinary committee by giving at least three months’ written notice to the Regulatory Board or a shorter period of notice approved by the Regulatory Board. |
| (10) | A member of the disciplinary committee may not use his or her position or any information by virtue of his or her work for the committee to— |
| (a) | improperly benefit himself or herself or another person; |
| (b) | impede the committee’s ability to perform its functions. |
[Section 24A inserted by section 9 of the Auditing Profession Amendment Act, 2021 (Act No. 5 of 2021), Notice No. 228 of GG44493, dated 26 April 2021]
