Page 89 - DUT Annual Report 2023

With the DUT’s Finance continuing to operate under the stewardship of six qualified accountants (CA(SA)), headed by the CFO, the AC
has satisfied itself with regard to the team’s required expertise and experience.
such an appointment remains in line with DHET requirements.
b. The review and approval of the external auditor budget, in a context that seeks to balance value-add with fiscal prudence. Similarly, any non-audit services provided by the external auditors were considered and approved by the AC.
c. The review and approval of AFS, including accounting practices and compliance with the international financial reporting standards (IRFS). Integral to this responsibility is an obligation to ensure not just the integrity of the AFS, but also how understandable and transparent they are from the perspective of the user, and that the university’s finance team is adequately skilled.
d. Satisfying itself that the statutory auditors are independent of the operations of the DUT. This was assessed against both the criteria defined by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) as well as the internal governance process within the firm (PwC) itself.
Technical Competence of Finance
Team
With the DUT’s Finance continuing to operate under the stewardship of six qualified accountants (CA(SA)), headed by the CFO, the AC has satisfied itself with regard to the team’s required expertise and experience.
Internal Audit Function
Pivotal to the control environment strengthening, the IAF remained a priority to the AC and thus continued to have direct access to the Chairperson of the AC, including an opportunity for interactions beyond the pre-scheduled quarterly meetings. In this context, both the internal audit plan and related budget were considered and approved for 2023. Integrally, the values that the IAF adds were considered through the prism of basics that include the adequacy of addressing risks, the extent to which its independence is preserved, the level of competence within its team, and the appropriateness of its charter as the IAF. It is based on this that the performance of the IAF is assessed by the AC.
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