The directors are required by the South African Companies Act to maintain adequate accounting records and are responsible for the content and integrity of the annual financial statements and related financial information included in this report. It is their responsibility to ensure that the annual financial statements fairly present the state of affairs of the Group and Company as at the end of the financial year and the results of their operations and cash flows for the financial year, in conformity with International Reporting Standards, JSE Listings Requirements and applicable legislation. The Group’s external auditors are engaged to express a statutory independent opinion on the annual financial statements.

The annual financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Reporting Standards and incorporate disclosure in line with the accounting policies of the Group. The financial statements are based upon appropriate accounting policies consistently applied throughout the Group and supported by reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates.

The directors acknowledge that they are ultimately responsible for the system of internal financial control established by the Group and place considerable importance on maintaining a strong control environment. To enable the directors to meet these responsibilities, the board sets standards for internal control aimed at reducing the risk of error or loss in a cost-effective manner. The standards include the proper delegation of responsibilities within a clear defined framework, effective accounting procedures and adequate segregation of duties to ensure an acceptable level of risk. These controls are monitored throughout the Group and all employees are required to maintain the highest ethical standards in ensuring the Group’s business is conducted in a manner that in all reasonable circumstances is above reproach. The focus of risk management in the Group is on identifying, assessing, managing and monitoring all known forms of risk across the Group. While operating risk cannot be fully eliminated, the Group endeavours to minimise it by ensuring that appropriate infrastructure, controls, systems and ethical behaviour are applied and managed within predetermined procedures and constraints.

The directors are of the opinion, based on the information and explanations given by management, the internal auditors and the external auditors, that the system of internal control provides reasonable assurance that the financial records may be relied on for the preparation of the annual financial statements. However, any system of internal financial control can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss. The going-concern basis has been adopted in preparing the financial statements. The directors have no reason to believe that the Group will not be a going concern in the foreseeable future based on forecasts and available cash resources. The financial statements support the viability of the Group.

The financial statements have been audited by the independent auditing firm, PKF (Jhb) Inc., who have been 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 the audit were valid and appropriate. PKF (Jhb) Inc.’s unqualified audit report is presented here. The financial statements were approved by the directors on 1 September 2009 and are signed on their behalf by: