a) The occurrence of social assistance grant expenditure with an approximate value of R10,5 billion as disclosed in note 8 to the financial statements could not be verified due to limitations placed by South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) which acts as an agent for the Department. b) A number of grant beneficiary files requested from SASSA were not presented for audit purposes. Furthermore, numerous files presented by SASSA did not contain the necessary information that is required to form the basis for valid grant payment. c) The agency's records did not permit the application of alternative audit procedures regarding the social assistance grant expenditure. d) The information and explanation considered necessary for the occurrence of social assistant grant expenditure was not available.