We have been engaged by the directors of MTN Group Limited (MTN or the Company) to perform an independent
limited assurance engagement in respect of Selected Sustainability Information reported in the Company’s
integrated annual report for the year ended 31 December 2015 (the report). This report is produced in accordance
with the terms of our contract with the Company dated 16 November 2015.
INDEPENDENCE, QUALITY CONTROL AND EXPERTISE
We have complied with the independence and other requirements of the Code of Professional Conduct for
Registered Auditors issued by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors, which is founded on fundamental
principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour.
The firm applies International Standard on Quality Control 1 and, accordingly, maintains a comprehensive system
of quality control including documented policies and procedures regarding compliance with ethical requirements,
professional standards and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.
Our engagement was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of health, safety, environmental and assurance
specialists with extensive experience in sustainability reporting.
SCOPE AND SUBJECT MATTER
The subject matter of our engagement and the related level of assurance that we are required to provide are as
follows:
Limited assurance
 |
The following Selected Sustainability Information in the report was selected for an expression of limited assurance: |
| |
| 1. |
Quality of service: network availability %; call setup success rate %; dropped call rate %
| a. |
MTN South Africa |
| b. |
MTN Nigeria |
| c. |
MTN Ghana |
|
| 2. |
Group MTN Foundation CSI spend: ZAR |
| 3. |
Group employee culture survey result: overall performance % |
| 4. |
Group whistle-blower hotline data: number of fraud incidents reported and reviewed |
| 5. |
Net promoter score
| a. |
MTN South Africa |
| b. |
MTN Nigeria |
| c. |
Large opco cluster |
|
|
We refer to this information as the “Selected Sustainability Information for Limited Assurance”.
We have carried out work on the data reported for 31 December 2015 only and have not performed any procedures
with respect to earlier periods except where specifically indicated, or any other elements included in the integrated
report 2015 and, therefore, do not express any conclusion thereon. We have not performed work in respect of future
projections and targets.
RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTORS AND PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS INC.
MTN’s directors are responsible for selection, preparation and presentation of the Selected Sustainability
Information for Limited Assurance in accordance with MTN’s internally defined procedures set out on MTN’s website  www.mtn.com/Investors/FinancialReporting/Pages/IntegratedReports.aspx, and for the development
of the reporting criteria. The directors are also responsible for designing, implementing and maintaining of internal
controls as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of the Selected Sustainability Information
for Limited Assurance that are free from material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error.
Our responsibility is to form an independent conclusion, based on our limited assurance procedures, on whether
anything has come to our attention to indicate that Selected Sustainability Information has not been prepared, in all
material respects, in accordance with the reporting criteria.
This report, including the conclusion, has been prepared solely for the directors of the Company as a body, to assist
the directors in reporting on the Company’s sustainable development performance and activities. We permit the
disclosure of this report within the report for the year ended 31 December 2015, to enable the directors to
demonstrate they have discharged their governance responsibilities by commissioning an independent assurance
report in connection with the report. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility
to anyone other than the directors as a body and the Company for our work or this report save where terms are
expressly agreed and with our prior consent in writing.
ASSURANCE WORK PERFORMED
We conducted our limited assurance engagement in accordance with International Standard on Assurance
Engagements 3000: Assurance Engagements other than Audits and Reviews of Historical Financial Information
(ISAE 3000) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. This standard requires that we Noomtpelys wtoith t hetehi csaul mreqmuiarermye cnotsn asnodl itdhaat tweed p filanna anncdi apel rsfotramt ethme eansstusr acnonctein ueendgagement to obtain limited
assurance on the Selected Sustainability Information as per the terms of our engagement.
Our work included examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the Selected Sustainability Information for
Limited Assurance. It also included an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the
directors in the preparation of the Selected Sustainability Information for Limited Assurance. We planned and
performed our work so as to obtain all the information and explanations that we considered necessary in order to
provide us with sufficient evidence on which to base our conclusion in respect of the Selected Sustainability
Information for Limited Assurance.
Our limited assurance procedures primarily comprised:
- Reviewing the processes that MTN has in place for determining the Subject Matter for Limited Assurance included
in the report;
- Obtaining an understanding of the systems used to generate, aggregate and report the subject matter selected
for limited assurance;
- Conducting interviews with management at corporate head office;
- Evaluating the data generation and reporting processes against the reporting criteria;
- Performing key controls testing and testing the accuracy of the data reported on a sample basis at a minimum of
three opcos material to Group reporting data for the subject matter selected for limited assurance;
- Reviewing the consistency between the subject matter selected for limited assurance and the related statements
in MTN’s report.
A limited assurance engagement is substantially less in scope than a reasonable assurance engagement under
ISAE 3000. Consequently, the nature, timing and extent of procedures for gathering sufficient appropriate evidence
are deliberately limited relative to a reasonable assurance engagement, and therefore less assurance is obtained
with a limited assurance engagement than for a reasonable assurance engagement.
The procedures selected depend on our judgement, including the assessment of the risk of material misstatement
of the Selected Sustainability Information, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, we
consider internal control relevant to the Company’s preparation of the Selected Sustainability Information in order to
design procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances.
We believe that the evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our conclusion.
INHERENT LIMITATIONS
Non-financial performance information is subject to more inherent limitations than financial information, given the
characteristics of the subject matter and the methods used for determining, calculating, sampling and estimating
such information. The absence of a significant body of established practice on which to draw allows for the selection
of different but acceptable measurement techniques which can result in materially different measurements and can
impact comparability. Qualitative interpretations of relevance, materiality and the accuracy of data are subject to
individual assumptions and judgements. The precision of different measurement techniques may also vary.
Furthermore, the nature and methods used to determine such information, as well as the measurement criteria and
the precision thereof, may change over time. It is important to read the report in the context of the reporting criteria.
In particular, where the information relies on factors and methodologies derived by independent third parties, our
assurance work has not included examination of the derivation of those factors and other third-party information.
CONCLUSION
Based on the results of our limited assurance procedures nothing has come to our attention that causes us to
believe that the Selected Sustainability Information for the year ended 31 December 2015, has not been prepared,
in all material respects, in accordance with the reporting criteria.
OTHER MATTER
The maintenance and integrity of MTN’s website is the responsibility of MTN’s management. Our procedures did
not involve consideration of these matters and, accordingly we accept no responsibility for any changes to either
the information in the report or our independent assurance report that may have occurred since the initial date of
presentation on the MTN website.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc.
Director: Jayne Mammatt
Registered Auditor
Johannesburg
6 April 2016 |
