Africa-Press – South-Africa. No National Treasury officials were subjected to lifestyle audits in the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 financial years, says finance minister Enoch Godongwana.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question by DA MP Hendrik Krüger, Godongwana said the public service and administration department provides guidelines for three progressive stages of integrity checks: lifestyle reviews, lifestyle investigations and lifestyle audits.
“Lifestyle review is the first test and assesses whether an official is living within their means, but it is inconclusive to confirm wrongdoing. Lifestyle reviews are conducted based on discrepancies or red flags identified during the financial disclosure period.
“Lifestyle investigation is the second test and serves to probe further the findings from a lifestyle review, to confirm undeclared sources of income and any wrongdoing. Lifestyle audit is the third test and is a more complex version of lifestyle investigation,” he said.
In response to Krüger’s question about the number of officials audited and the outcomes, Godongwana said lifestyle reviews were last conducted in the 2021/2022 financial year on two chief directors and one director.
“All three senior management service (SMS) members were cleared and no further steps were taken. No SMS members were referred for lifestyle reviews in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
“The financial disclosures made in the 2024/2025 financial year are still undergoing verification.”
Godongwana added that the Treasury had “bolstered its capacity to conduct lifestyle reviews by training its staff and sourcing appropriate tools” and was consolidating its ethics function under the office of the director-general to improve oversight.
In a separate reply to Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana, President Cyril Ramaphosa said lifestyle audits for the president, deputy president, ministers and deputy ministers would be co-ordinated by the office of the director-general and the secretary of the cabinet, both of whom are qualified auditors.
Ramaphosa’s remarks follow a renewed push for transparency by public works and infrastructure minister Dean Macpherson, who recently launched lifestyle audits targeting 400 high-risk officials in various departments.
According to Macpherson, the first phase of those audits began in March and will conclude in September, with the next phase scheduled for October to March 2026.
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