AGSA calls for responsible reporting and space for the legal processes to run its course on tragic matter of the late Mpho Mafole

PRETORIA – The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) has noted with concern some media reports that link the unfortunate death of its former employee, the late Mpho Mafale, to his audit work while he was working for the AGSA.

The national audit office urges the media to allow the ongoing investigations and legal court processes to run their course first and get to the bottom of this matter.As the audit office we firmly support media freedom, but we strongly believe that jumping into untested speculation could hamper the unfolding legal process, and it is equally inconsiderate to his (Mafole’s) grieving family and acquaintances.

As outlined in our previous statement, Mr Mafole was an employee of the AGSA for 16 years, serving in our Investigations Business Unit before joining the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.

On inferences that our teams auditing the municipality might have received political pressure to keep the municipality’s audit findings clean, it is worth noting that Ekurhuleni last received a clean audit in the 2021-22 financial year. In the following years our independent audit teams raised governance issues that the municipality needed to address before clawing back to the clean audit status.

It is equally worth noting that, as guided by the Public Audit Act and the International Standards on Auditing, the national audit office is committed to carry its constitutional mandate impartially, without fear, favour or prejudice to all those we audit.

As South Africa’s supreme audit institution, we conduct our work in a manner that aims to benefit the people of South Africa at all times.