Auditor-General calls out lies in correctional services tender records

The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) confronted Correctional Services with suspect tender documents.

The department returned with more paperwork that deepened the auditors’ distrust and prompted an accusation of repeated deception.

Michelle Magerman, an AGSA business unit leader, described the episode to parliament’s portfolio committee on correctional services on Tuesday.

“If you lie to me once and you lie to me twice,” she said, “I don’t see why, as an auditor, you want to continue that conversation. It’s already proved that it is there to deceive.”

Her team discovered that bidders appeared to use the same supporting documents. Auditors also detected changes to tender paperwork after bidding had closed. The tenders involved prison food supplies, including milk, bread, sugar and vegetables.

“People went in and changed some of the documentation,” Magerman said.

She said the findings went beyond vague suspicions. Auditors examined electronic documents and showed officials how the records changed.

“This was not even a doubt,” she said, describing how auditors demonstrated the altered files to officials.

Magerman emailed the department about the findings on February 3. She met national commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale on March 20 and showed him the warning signs. She said the department knew what auditors suspected before it prepared its July response.

The AGSA had questioned how the department assessed tender bids during the previous audit. Now management’s explanations faced scrutiny.

The dispute did not end there. The department returned with further documentation on July 9. Its leadership insisted it had checked the disputed records with banks and suppliers.

“Your finding is incorrect,” Magerman said, summarising the department’s response.

Auditors found problems. They declined to remove the finding and questioned the explanations behind the new records. On July 23, departmental representatives sought another meeting.

Magerman said she would not proceed without the chief financial officer. Her team reached its conclusions on July 24. She then alerted Thobakgale to concerns about the integrity of management.

“This is me not trusting what you are giving me anymore,” she said.

Magerman told MPs she believed management had provided the new documents “actually to deceive me”.

She met the accounting officer on July 27 and 28.

MPs wanted to know who had authorised the disputed response. “It is a response from the leadership of the department,” she said.

Magerman did not identify who personally altered the documents or knowingly authorised false submissions.

The department received a disclaimer audit opinion for 2025/26. Auditors could not rely on key records to establish the accuracy of its finances.

Magerman said the AGSA had heard about a Hawks case. It would check what investigators were examining before deciding on further steps.

The committee expects the department to account for the findings on Tuesday.

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