What does a "manual audit" mean, what does it entail and why would I be trasnferred to it?

I have submitted my tax return and was triggered for audit verification. I missed the first deadline to submit and then received a final demand letter. I submitted all the supporting documents on the final due date. I have called 3 weeks later and they say I have been transferred to a manual audit. I was not informed that my audit was being transferred to "manual", which I don't know what it means. What does a manual audit mean and why have they transferred me to it?

This means that someone from SARS will physically draw the files and perform a review themselves instead of it going through the online internal SARS process. Unfortunately this can take up to 3 months to be resolved.