Lifestyle audits for South Africa’s millionaire ministers – Ramaphosa has nothing to say
President Cyril Ramaphosa has left several significant questions regarding government lifestyle audits unanswered as the nation’s senior politicians continue to live a life of luxury.
Amidst the slow process of lifestyle audits of ministers, deputy ministers and executives in the presidency, opposition leader John Steenhuisen asked the President a series of questions in a Parliamentary Q&A.
Steenhuisen’s questions were as follows:
- (a) What service provider(s) were appointed to conduct the audits?
- (b) On what date were they appointed?
- (c) What are the reasons that they were found to be deficient?
- (d) On what date were they relieved of their task?
- (e) What amount were they paid?
- (f) Who is the new service provider?
- (g) On what date was the new service provider appointed?
- (h) By what date will the new service provider complete the task?
As per the above questions, the President only answered question h, stating that the audits should be completed by the end of the financial year – in March 2024 – which was already previously communicated.
Every other question was either ignored or only vaguely touched on. The President’s response included the following:
“The Office of the Director General (of the presidency) considered two options for conducting lifestyle audits on members of the executives. The first option was to use the internal capacity within government with the support of external expertise on certain aspects such as data analysis,” the President said.
“Bodies such as the State Security Agency (SSA) or the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) could be considered to conduct the lifestyle audit. The second option was to fully outsource to an external audit firm or consortium of experts and closely project manage the rollout of the audit.”
“The Presidency is using both options; the pre-investigation phase, which is the first phase of the lifestyle audit, will be conducted by an external service provider.”
However, the President avoided the questions over the changing of service providers, which he previously stated led to the serious delay in the lifestyle audits of senior government officials.
He did not name the old or new service providers, the amount that they are being/were paid, or why the old service provider was removed.
It is not uncommon for members of Parliament to not answer questions in Parliamentary Q&A, but extra information or referrals are often given as reasons for the refusal to answer.
Pointless exercise
Although Ramaphosa previously said that lifestyle audits could be a key tool in tackling corruption, the process is yet to find anything of note.
The audits for government officials follow a three-step process: Lifestyle Reviews, Lifestyle Investigations, and then Lifestyle Audits.
If issues – including unexplained wealth or conflicts of interest – are flagged during the lifestyle review, a lifestyle investigation occurs.
A lifestyle audit is then conducted if the lifestyle investigation process is too difficult, with specialist auditors hired to find unexplained wealth, for instance.
With this three-step approach, the lifestyle audit process can end at the review stage if no red flags are identified.
Given the three-step approach, the lifestyle audit process can end with a lifestyle review when no red flags are identified.
Despite senior government officials earning millions in salaries with additional perks, many – such as Deputy President Paul Mashatile – live exorbitant lifestyles, raising questions over the source of their wealth and the potential benefit of lifestyle audits.
Although Ministers and MPs have to declare their business and financial interests to Parliament, many have nothing to declare; as loopholes and technicalities – such as gifts from family or friends – are regularly used to hide wealth.
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