Report of the Independent Auditors
to the members of Tongaat Hulett Limited
Report on the Financial Statements
We have audited the annual financial statements and the consolidated annual financial statements of Tongaat Hulett Limited, which comprise the directors’ report, the balance sheet as at 31 December 2008, the income statement, the statement of changes in equity and cash flow statement for the year then ended, a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes, as set out on page 56 and pages 59 to 102.
Directors’ Responsibility for the Financial Statements
The company’s directors are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and in the manner required by the Companies Act of South Africa. This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.
Auditor’s Responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control.
An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the directors, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.
Opinion
In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position and consolidated financial position of Tongaat Hulett Limited as at 31 December 2008 and its financial performance and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and in the manner required by the Companies Act of South Africa.
Deloitte & Touche
Audit KZN
Registered Auditors
Per JAR Welch
Partner
19 February 2009
2 Pencarrow Crescent
La Lucia Ridge Office Estate
Durban
National Executive: GG Gelink – Chief Executive, AE Swiegers – Chief Operating Officer, GM Pinnock – Audit, DL Kennedy – Tax, L Geeringh – Consulting, L Bam – Strategy, CR Beukman – Finance, TJ Brown – Clients & Markets, NT Mtoba – Chairman of the Board
Regional Leader: G Brazier
A full list of partners and directors is available on request.
