By 
The Auditor General South Africa (AGSA) has cleared CENTLEC in Mangaung Metro, in the Free State from irregularities in their audits allegations; this follows allegations made by ActionSA in 2024.
Noting the allegations levelled against CENTLEC on social media, the AG was swift to investigate the matter to verify their veracity. According to the AG, the investigation involved various layers, including their own internal quality review process and engagements with the management of the entity and the leadership of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality.
“As part of our standing processes, our findings were reported in the audit reports of CENTLEC and shared with its management and tabled in the municipal council,” said Mr Africa Boso, the Spokesperson for the AG.
The findings of the investigations showed that there was no basis for the allegations, according to Boso, the AGSA was then accused of colluding with the employees of CENTLEC.
“The AGSA rejects the allegations of collusion between our team and CENTLEC employees. The AGSA reviewed the entity’s audits and concluded there was no basis for the allegations, as all findings were reported consistently.
For the past five (5) financial years, CENTLEC has been receiving unqualified-with-findings audit outcomes from the AGSA. Our auditors have constantly been raising compliance issues that the entity needs to address. There is no evidence that any of the irregularities were ignored, as they were reported in the management and audit reports of the entity,” said Boso.
Boso explained that AGSA audits are subject to stringent internal and external processes to ensure that they adhere to ethical and auditing standards. They also undergo strict independent quality reviews by independent industry regulators such as the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA).
“In line with International Standards on Auditing (ISA) that we adhere to, our audit processes are such that no single person can conclude and audit alone, as there are several stringent internal and external review mechanisms that all our auditors must adhere to. In addition, all our auditors adopt a professional and ethical approach whenever they do audits.
As with all our audits, these steps have been followed with the CENTLEC audits. Our latest internal investigation also attests to this, and that none of our teams mentioned in the allegations were involved in any collusion for the entity to receive better audit outcomes. We therefore call on those who have concrete evidence of impropriety to submit it through our complaints process to enable the AGSA to investigate it,” he said.
