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Lifestyle audits for Ramaphosa, Mashatile and South Africa’s millionaire ministers coming ‘soon’
President Cyril Ramaphosa says that the promised lifestyle audits on the president, the deputy president and members of cabinet will be taking longer than planned.
Addressing the National Assembly on Tuesday (5 September), Ramaphosa said lifestyle audits for public servants in government have been compulsory since March 2021, and since March 2023, over 11,000 public servants have gone through the process.
The government plans to complete these audits by March 2024.
However, the process for lifestyle audits of ministers, deputy ministers and executives in the presidency has hit a delay, he said.
The high-level audits were initiated near the end of 2022, Ramaphosa said, but a switching of service providers means that this audits will take longer to process.
He said that the process is “well underway,” and he anticipates that it will be concluded “shortly”, but could provide no specifics on timelines.
Consent from all ministers, deputies and Ramaphosa himself has been signed and delivered in writing, and only the implementation has been delayed.
The audit process is being spearheaded by the office of the director general in the presidency, who Ramaphosa said is well-equipped to deal with it.
The new service provider, he added, is also able to do the audit more efficiently and comprehensively and will be able to present the audited data in more detail.
When challenged on how long the process has taken – first being presented when Ramaphosa took over as president in 2018 – he argued that it is better to do it properly, than to have the results challenged later for being “superficial”.
“I do regret the delay, it should not have been as long as it is, but the intent is there,” he said.
Ramaphosa has touted lifestyle audits as a key tool to tackle corruption and perceptions of malfeasance in the public sector.
However, to date, the process has not turned up much.
In December 2022, the Department of Public Service and Administration noted that 70 government departments had concluded thousands of lifestyle reviews for senior officials, and none turned up any red flags.
For government workers, the audits follow a three-step programme:
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Lifestyle Reviews
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Lifestyle Investigations
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Lifestyle Audits
When red flags – such as unexplained wealth, conflicts of interest, etc. – are identified during lifestyle reviews, the department moves to the next step, which is lifestyle investigations.
This step may lead to disciplinary action if an irregularity or wrongdoing is detected and if action is required in terms of law and prescripts.
When an investigation proves to be challenging, a department will move to the last step – a lifestyle audit.
This step involves the utilisation of specialist auditors who will employ specialist tools to trace unexplained wealth, for example.
Given the three-step approach, the lifestyle audit process can end with a lifestyle review when no red flags are identified.
The results of the lifestyle audits in the executive are of keen interest, given that ministers and deputy ministers take home millions of rands in salaries, and some – like deputy president Paul Mashatile – enjoy exorbitant and luxurious lifestyles.
South Africa’s millionaire ministers will soon be even wealthier, with the president granting them an increase to R2.58 million a year, from R2.4 million before.
Deputy ministers will see their salaries bumped up to R2.1 million. The deputy president will see his salary climb to R3 million.
Ministers and MPs are already required to declare their business and financial interests to Parliament – but many show nothing declared.
In many cases, wealth is “hidden” and declaration requirements are circumvented through loopholes and technicalities – like politicians being “gifted” favours from family members or family trusts, where line of ownership is indirect.
Ministers also benefit greatly from a host of perks and benefits afforded by the Ministerial Handbook.
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