Opinion

1. We have audited the financial statements of the PPECB set out on pages 89 to 111, which comprise the statement of financial position as at 31 March 2023, statement of financial performance, statement of changes in net assets, cash flow statement and statement of comparison of budget and actual amounts for the year then ended, as well as notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.
2. In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the PPECB as at 31 March 2023 and its financial performance and cash flows for the year, then ended in accordance with the Standards of Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP) and the requirements of the Public Finance Management Act (Act No. 1 of 1999) (PFMA).

Basis for opinion

3. We conducted our audit in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing (ISA). Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report.
4. We are independent of the entity in accordance with the Code of Professional Conduct for Registered Auditors of the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) and other independence requirements applicable to performing audits of financial statements in South Africa. We have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the IRBA Code and in accordance with other ethical requirements applicable to performing audits in South Africa. The IRBA Code is consistent with the corresponding sections of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards).
5. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Other matters

6. We draw attention to the matters below. Our opinion is not modified in respect of these matters.

7. The financial statements of the previous year were audited by the predecessor auditor in terms of section 4(3) of the Public Audit Act (Act No. 25 of 2004) (PAA) on 31 May 2022.

8. On 23 December 2022, National Treasury issued Instruction Note No. 4: PFMA Compliance and Reporting Framework of 2022-23 interms of section 76 (1)(b), (e) and (f), 2(e) and (4)(a) and (c) of the PFMA which came into effect on 3 January 2023. The PFMA Compliance and Reporting Framework also addresses the disclosure of unauthorised expenditure, irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful expenditure (UIFW expenditure). Among the effects of this framework is that irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred in previous financial years and not addressed is no longer disclosed in either the annual report or the disclosure notes of the financial statements. Only the current year and prior year figures are disclosed in note 24 to the financial statements. Furthermore, the movements in respect of irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful expenditure are no longer disclosed in the notes to the financial statements of the PPECB. The disclosure of these movements (e.g. condoned, recoverable, removed, written off, under assessment, under determination and under investigation) is now included as part of other information in the annual report of the PPECB. I do not express an opinion on the disclosure of irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the annual report.

Responsibilities of accounting authority for the financial statements

9. The accounting authority is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with GRAP and the requirements of the PFMA and for such internal control as the accounting authority determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
10. In preparing the financial statements, the accounting authority is responsible for assessing the public entity’s ability to continue as a going concern; disclosing, as applicable, matters relating to a going concern, and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the accounting authority either intends to liquidate the public entity or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Responsibilities of the auditor for the audit of the financial statements

11. Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with the ISAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
12. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is included in the annexure to this auditor’s report.

13. In accordance with the PAA and the general notice issued in terms thereof, we must audit and report on the usefulness and reliability of the reported performance against predetermined objectives for a selected programme presented in the annual performance report. The accounting authority is responsible for the preparation of the annual performance report.
14. We selected the following programme presented in the annual performance report for the year ended 31 March 2023 for auditing. We selected a programme that measures the public entity’s performance on its primary mandated functions, and that is of significant national, community or public interest.