[Section 53 heading substituted by section 20 of the Auditing Profession Amendment Act, 2021 (Act No. 5 of 2021), Notice No. 228 of GG44493, dated 26 April 2021]
| (1) | A person is guilty of an offence if he or she— |
| (a) | without sufficient cause, refuses or fails to comply with any reasonable request by an official authorised by the Regulatory Board in connection with the conduct of an investigation; |
| (b) | interferes with or hinders the conduct of an investigation or a disciplinary process; |
| (c) | fails, without sufficient cause, to comply with a subpoena in terms of section 48 or 50; |
| (d) | having been called under section 50, refuses to be sworn in or to be affirmed as a witness or fails without sufficient cause to answer fully and satisfactorily to the best of the person’s knowledge and belief all questions lawfully put concerning the subject of the hearing; or |
| (e) | having been duly sworn in or having made an affirmation under section 50, gives a false answer to any question lawfully put to the witness or makes a false statement on any matter, knowing the answer or statement to be false. |
| (2) | A person convicted of an offence under this section is liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both a fine and such imprisonment. |
[Section 53 substituted by section 20 of the Auditing Profession Amendment Act, 2021 (Act No. 5 of 2021), Notice No. 228 of GG44493, dated 26 April 2021]
