Background

The idea for the project, CAPIA (Continuous Auditing for Public Sector Internal Auditing), was formed in 2019 after Prof. Lourens Erasmus from the University of South Africa (UNISA) met Prof. Sezer Bozkuş Kahyaoğlu from the Kyrgyz Turkish Manas University at a conference. Prof. Bozkuş Kahyaoğlu and her colleagues from the Turkey Ministry of Agriculture showcased their continuous auditing application that they developed at the conference. With South Africa and Turkey being on similar level of economic development, it was decided to cooperate for South Africa to learn lessons from the Turkey experience. The COVID-19 pandemic and global shutdown delayed activities for a while, but the members persevered to formally register CAPIA as an engaged scholarship project at UNISA, from 1 January 2022.

Purpose

The purpose of the CAPIA project is to contribute to a value adding public sector internal audit function, through the early detection of risks, leading to the effective use of public resources; to improve internal audit mechanisms, based on new technological developments to strengthen assurance services; and through this achieve improved transparency, improved accountability, and strategic public sector goals for a sustainable public sector.

Leadership team

Lourens Erasmus Head and Shoulders
  • Lourens Eramus
Sezer
  • Sezer Bozkuş Kahyaoğlu
Abejide Ade-Ibijola Head and Shoulders
  • Abejide Ade-Ibijola
Léandi Steenkamp
  • Léandi Steenkamp
Cameron Modisane
  • Cameron Modisane
Lethiwe Nzama-Sithole
  • Lethiwe Nzama-Sithole
Louis Smidt
  • Louis Smidt
Ilse Morgan
  • Ilse Morgan
Thakane Rampai
  • Thakane Rampai
Babalwa Ceki
  • Babalwa Ceki
Georges Naoufal
  • Georges Naoufal

12 June 2024

Assuring against algorithmic harms

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15 May 2024

Ethical perspectives on digital auditing

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2 August 2023

Blockchain-based Accounting Systems in the Public Sector

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Lourens Erasmus

Professor, Department of Financial Governance, College of Accounting Sciences, University of South Africa

Prof Lourens Erasmus is a professor in the Department of Financial Governance at the College of Accounting Sciences of the University of South Africa. His fields of academic interest are in public sector financial governance and internal auditing.

 

From 1 April 2019 he was appointed by the President of South Africa, to serve as a Commissioner on the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC), for a period of five years. The FFC conducts research and advises Parliament, Provincial Legislatures, and other stakeholders on amongst others, the annual division of revenue between the spheres of government.

 

Prof Erasmus is the chairperson of the Education and Professional Development Committee of the Southern African Institute of Government Auditors (SAIGA), chairperson of the UNISA College of Accounting Sciences Research Ethics Review Committee, and an affiliate member of the Chartered Institute of Government Finance, Audit and Risk Officers (CIGFARO).

 

Prof Erasmus is an NRF-rated researcher and Editor-in-Chief of the DHET accredited research journal, the Southern African Journal of Accountability and Auditing Research (SAJAAR). He is an Associate Editor of the Scopus listed, South African Journal of Accounting Research (SAJAR), and project leader of the registered Engaged Scholarship projects, Research on Audit Committees South Africa (RACSA), and Continuous Auditing in Public Sector Internal Auditing (CAPIA).

Sezer Bozkus Kahyaoglu

Associate Professor of Finance at the Bakirçay University

Sezer is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Bakirçay University, in Izmir, Türkiye, and an academic associate of the University of South Africa (UNISA) and the University of Johannesburg. Her research interests mainly include Applied Econometrics, Time Series Analysis, Financial Markets and Instruments, AI, Blockchain, Sustainability, Corporate Governance, Risk Management, Fraud Accounting, Auditing, Ethics, Coaching, Mentoring, and NLP. Sezer is the associate editor of two indexed journals and the AI book series editor at Springer. Sezer is a Steering Committee Member at the Good Governance Academy Research Forum and a co-founding member of the registered Engaged Scholarship project, Continuous Auditing in Public Sector Internal Auditing (CAPIA).

Abejide Ade-Ibijola

PhD, TEDx Fellow, NRF-Rated, MIITPSA, MICSIT, MIAENG, MIETI
Professor of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Applications at the Johannesburg Business School

Abejide holds a PhD in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, and he has published 80+ articles in recognised outlets on AI algorithms, and innovations for solving real-world problems in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

 

In his 15 years of experience, he has taught several modules at all levels and supervised master’s and doctoral candidates to completion. Abejide has won 65 major teaching, research and innovation awards and secured over R12 million rands in funding towards research, innovation, and social development (training of youth technopreneurs, and unemployed graduates). He is the recipient of the UJ CBE Dean’s Top Senior Lecturer Award 2018 (in a faculty of 338 academics), a Two-time Winner of the UJ Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Awards for the Innovation of the year 2019 (Valued at R500,000.00), and Teacher Excellence 2020 (Valued at R150,000.00).

 

Abejide is also the recipient of South Africa’s Department of Public Service (DPSA) Ignite Hack Innovation Award 2018, SA Department of Communications Living 4IR Hackathon Overall Best Innovation of 2019, Two South Africa’s State IT Agency (SITA) Public Service Innovation Awards in 2019. In 2020, he secured software licenses for the entire UJ community, worth over $1.5 Billion US Dollars.

 

Abejide’s career is decorated with over 100 awards and recognitions. At the JBS, Abejide is the Founder and Lead of the Research Group on Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Innovations for Digital Transformation, the Director of the Postgraduate Diploma Programme, and the Chairperson of the Centre for Entrepreneurship’s Advisory Board. He also heads the Innovation Lab of the JBS, known to produce immersive experiences, video games, mobile/web app solutions, and a range of algorithmic solutions.

 

At UJ, he is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, he serves on the Teaching Portfolio Assessment Committee (TPAC), and he is also a member of the Senate’s Teaching and Learning Committee. Abejide is a Visiting Distinguished Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the School of Business, Woxsen University, Hyderabad, India, and holds several academic, consulting, and advisory positions around the world. He has recently given invited talks at University of Oxford, United Kingdom and at Cornell University, New York, USA on Artificial Intelligence and Applications. He is the Founder and Chairman of GRIT Lab Africa (a social project for training young Africans in Grit and programming). At GRIT Lab Africa, Abejide mentors 116 young people across 38 higher institutions of learning in 11 African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). More about GLA at: www.gritlabafrica.org.

 

He currently mentors 60+ students, and has directly mentored 1000+ students in the last seven years. In 2022, he paid out R1,111,587.38 in wages to 33 students for work-integrated learning, while training these students to become software engineers across a diverse range of technologies. Abejide is the publisher of the Kingsman Academic Magazine, a publication that showcases the technological innovation of his mentees.

Léandi Steenkamp

Senior Lecturer and former Head of Department Accounting and Auditing at the Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa

Léandi is a Senior Lecturer and former Head of Department Accounting and Auditing at the Central University of Technology, Free State in South Africa. She started her career with the audit firm PwC, was later appointed as audit manager at the Office of the Auditor General of South Africa, and as from 2009 she is living out her passion for teaching and research in academia.

 

Léandi is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)) registered with SAICA, Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) registered with the IIA, and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) registered with ISACA . She completed her Master’s degree in Auditing (cum laude) in 2013, and her PhD in Auditing in 2017, with the University of the Free State. Both her Master’s and PhD dissertations focused on the sectional title industry in South Africa, specifically from an accounting and auditing perspective.

 

Léandi is an affiliate member of the National Association of Managing Agents (NAMA) SA, where she also acts in a consulting capacity and regularly addresses their members, boards of trustees and managing agents at meetings and conferences. Léandi is also actively involved in the Legal Education and Development (LEAD) division of the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) where she regularly does advising, consulting, lecturing, assessing and moderating on postgraduate level focusing on legal accounting and trust auditing.

 

She has been a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Central District Committee since 2009, SAICA Central Region Members in Business (MiB) Forum since 2020, and the SAICA AGA(SA) Professional Development Committee (PDC) (since 2021). Since 2011 she serves as Academic Advocate for the international professional body Information Technology Auditing (ISACA). Léandi is an editorial panel member for The Journal of New Generation Sciences (JNGS) (since 2017), The South African Journal of Accounting Research (SAJAR) (since 2018). She serves on the extended EXCO of the South African Accounting Association (SAAA) and is currently the subject chair for Auditing.

Lethiwe Nzama-Sithole

Member of the Research Ethics Committee and High Degrees Committee at the University of Johannesburg School of Accounting

Lethiwe holds a National Diploma in Cost and Management Accounting (Cum-Laude), a Bridging Certificate in Theory of Accounting, Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management, BCom Honours in Internal Auditing, an MCom in Computer Auditing and a PhD in Auditing — all qualifications obtained at the University of Johannesburg. Lethiwe previously worked as an accountant and an internal auditor, and she currently works as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

 

Through her PhD, she was a holder of the ADAPPT Scholarship, which enabled her to be a visiting scholar at the University of Florida in the United States of America for three months. In 2022, she won the Educator of the Year Award from the Institute of Internal Auditors (South Africa). Lethiwe is currently a member of the Research Ethics Committee and High Degrees Committee at the UJ School of Accounting. She is currently a chairperson for First-Year Experience Committee and the Peer Mentorship Programme coordinator. She recently joined CAPIA. Her research interests are Auditing, Governance, AI application governance and Accounting Education.

Dr Louis Smidt (CIA, CRMA)

Senior Lecturer, Department of Auditing, Tshwane University of Technology

Louis is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Auditing at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). He is a superbly qualified scholar with a track record of academic excellence achieved at the University of Pretoria and the University of the Free State.

 

Louis served as author of the IIA Global Exam Writing Team for the professional international certification in internal auditing (CIA), 2016 – 2019. He is a member of the Editorial Review Board of International Journal of Business Innovation (IJBI), since 2023, a member of the Editorial Review Board of Meditari Accountancy Research Journal (Meditari), since 2020, and a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Southern African Journal of Accountability and Auditing Research (SAJAAR), since 2012.

 

He is an editorial panel member of the scientific committee for the international peer reviewed conference on Accounting and Finance Innovation (ICAFI), since 2020, and an editorial panel member of the scientific committee for the international peer reviewed conference on (ICT for Auditing), since 2014. Louis is the IAEP coordinator for the Department of Auditing at TUT as part of the global accreditation by the Institute of Internal Auditors.

 

Louis is currently serving as an Academic Advocate for the international professional body for Information Technology Auditing (ISACA), since 2011. He has experienced in both Business and Information Technology audits, a sound knowledge of the IIA auditing standards and is widely consulted by internal auditors on technical matters with regards to adherence to standards and methodology requirements. He is experienced and qualified to conduct quality assurance reviews in line with the Institute of Internal Auditing global standards (Certified Quality Assurance Assessor).

Ilse Morgan

Certified Internal Auditor and University of South Africa (Unisa), Department of Auditing Lecturer

Ilse is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), lecturing at the University of South Africa (Unisa), Department of Auditing. She holds a Master’s degree in Auditing focussing on the role of internal auditing in the professional development of audit committees. Ilse is currently doing her PhD in Financial Governance. Her PhD focuses on improving accountability and transparency in the South African public sector through continuous assurance.

 

Ilse started her career in external auditing before entering academia and transferring to internal auditing. She is serving as a non-executive director of a financial services company in South Africa, and she also acted for three years as the Manager of the Centre for Accounting Studies (Unisa) (short-learning programmes). She developed and managed various internal auditing short courses during this period.


Ilse’s speciality is ethical governance and internal auditing and utilizing technology in a pragmatic way to address shortcomings and weaknesses. She also uses technology innovatively in presenting and assessing coursework via online learner management systems.

Thakane Rampai

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Auditing at the University of Pretoria

Thakane is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Auditing at the University of Pretoria (UP), within the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Her highest educational background is a Master’s degree in Internal Auditing from the same institution, and currently pursuing her PhD in Financial Governance with a keen focus on the adoption of continuous auditing in the South African public sector.

 

Thakane has extensive experience in internal auditing, forensic auditing, and project management. She is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Commercial Forensic Practitioner South Africa [FP(SA)], and holds Certificate in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA), Certificate in Control Self-Assessment (CCSA) and Certificate in Auditing in an IT Environment. Her dedication to her profession is further demonstrated through her membership in the Institute of Internal Auditor (IIA) and The Institute of Commercial Forensic (ICFP).

 

Thakane’s career began at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were she developed her skills in the field of internal and forensic auditing. She later moved to Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor) where she continued to make significant contributions in her field. Thakane started her academic journey in 2018 as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Auditing at Unisa. She served on various Unisa academic committees and briefly on the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa (IIASA) Leadership Academy for Guardian of Governance Board of Directors. She also presents risk management short courses through Enterprises UP. Her research interest is in internal audit stakeholder management, risk management and continuous auditing as a strategy for effective risk management

Babalwa Ceki

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Financial Accounting at the University of South Africa

Babalwa is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Financial Accounting at the University of South Africa (UNISA). She is a Chartered Accountant with experience in external auditing and has audited South African listed companies where her career started before joining academia. She holds a Master’s degree focused on the effect of strikes on the profitability of South African mining firms. She is currently doing her PhD in Auditing, focusing on assisting supreme audit institutions with an advanced technology adoption framework.

 

Babalwa has published academic articles in the South African mining journal, IPADA and I-CAB international conference proceedings. She is a peer reviewer of the I-CAB international conference and the South African Journal of Accounting Research. She is a co-author of an Accounting textbook. She has examined a number of Honours and Master’s degrees. She is part of a community engagement project that tutors accounting and mathematics in Pretoria high schools.

Georges Naoufal

Director, Data Science and Professional Practices, Canada Revenue Agency

Georges is the Director, Data Science and Professional Practices (Audit, Evaluation and Risk) at the Canada Revenue Agency in Ottawa. Georges began his public service career in 2003 with the Canadian Forces as a commissioned Logistics Officer. In 2006, he moved to Elections Canada where he held various positions in audit and management. Georges brings significant experience in technology, project management, business intelligence, and data analytics.

 

Georges is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Masters of Business Administration in Information Technology, and a Bachelor of Administration in Management Studies. He is in the final phase of the Doctorate of Business Administration with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence studies.

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