South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services falsified and altered its own records, a News24 investigation published Tuesday alleges — a sweeping claim that strikes at the integrity of audits inside one of the country’s largest state departments.
The investigation found records that were “false, altered or not authentic,” according to News24’s reporting, suggesting a deliberate effort to mislead auditors about the department’s books.
The allegations land amid South Africa’s long-running struggle with state corruption and audit failures, a theme that has shadowed successive governments since the Zuma era’s state-capture scandals.
The department had not publicly responded in detail to the specific allegations at the time of publication. Opposition parties are likely to seize on the report to demand a parliamentary inquiry — and the auditor-general’s next report on the department will now be read very closely indeed.
