Statement of directors' responsibility
for the year ended 31 December 2015
The directors are responsible for the integrity of the
integrated report as a whole, as well as for the preparation
and fair presentation of the annual separate and consolidated
financial statements of MTN Group Limited (the Company),
its subsidiaries, joint ventures, associates and structured
entities (together, the Group) in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and
Interpretations as issued by the IFRS Interpretations
Committee (IFRIC), the SAICA Financial Reporting Guides as
issued by the Accounting Practices Committee (APC),
Financial Reporting Pronouncements as issued by the
Financial Reporting Standards Council (FRSC), the
requirements of the South African Companies Act, No 71 of
2008 (the Companies Act), and the JSE Listings Requirements,
which form an integral part of the integrated report.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with
IFRS requires management to consistently apply appropriate
accounting policies, supported by reasonable and prudent
judgements and estimates.
The directors are of the opinion that the information
contained in the annual financial statements fairly presents
the financial position at year end and the financial
performance and cash flows of the Group and the Company
for the year then ended.
The directors have responsibility for ensuring that accurate
and complete accounting records are kept to enable the
Group and the Company to satisfy their obligation with
respect to the preparation of financial statements.
The directors are also responsible for the oversight of the
Group’s system of internal controls. 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.
The Group operates in an established control environment,
which is documented and regularly reviewed. This
incorporates risk management and internal control
procedures, which are designed to provide reasonable, but
not absolute, assurance that assets are safeguarded and that
the risks facing the business are controlled.
Nothing has come to the attention of the directors to
indicate that any material breakdown in the functioning of
these controls, procedures and systems has occurred during
the year under review.
The Group risk committee plays an integral role in risk
management, as well as in overseeing the Group’s internal
audit function.
The Group’s internal audit function, which operates
unimpeded and independently from operational
management, and has unrestricted access to the Group’s
audit committee, assesses and, when necessary,
recommends improvements in the system of internal control
and accounting practices, based on audit plans that take
cognisance of the relative degrees of risk of each function or
aspect of the business.
The going concern basis has been adopted in preparing the
Group and the Company annual financial statements. The
directors have no reason to believe that the Company or its
subsidiaries will not be going concerns in the year ahead
based on forecasts, available cash resources and facilities.
These financial statements support the viability of the Group
and the Company.
The Group’s external auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Incorporated and SizweNtsalubaGobodo Incorporated,
jointly audited the Group and the Company financial
statements and their unqualified audit report is presented
on page 9.
The external auditors were given unrestricted access to all
financial records and related data, including minutes of all
meetings of shareholders, the board of directors and
committees of the board. The directors believe that all
representations made to the independent auditors during
their audit are valid and appropriate.
The Group and the Company annual financial statements
which appear on pages 1 to 149 were approved for issue by
the board of directors on 2 March 2016 and are signed on its
behalf by:
PF Nhleko
Executive chairman
BD Goschen
Group chief financial officer
Fairland