Deeper lifestyle audits for senior officials are coming
Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, has requested that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) conduct lifestyle audits on the Department of Basic Education (DBE).
Gwarube urged the SIU to focus on senior officials and officials working in high-risk areas when conducting the audits. Parliament said these areas are often used as entry points for corrupt activity.
Public Service and Administration Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Jan de Villiers, acknowledged Gwarube’s stance to confront and dismantle corrupt networks within the Department of Basic Education.
This follows the Committee’s recognition of legislative reform that would enable the SIU to conduct lifestyle audits routinely and systematically across government departments.
The reforms would enable this without depending on proclamations or invitations from the President or departments.
The committee said that the efforts to expose and disrupt entrenched patronage, procurement abuse and irregular appointments are important to restoring integrity and performance in the DBE.
“A capable, ethical and professional public service is the cornerstone of a developmental state,” said de Villiers.
“Where corruption is allowed to take root, it diverts scarce resources away from service delivery, weakens institutional capacity and erodes public trust.”
De Villiers said this is more pronounced in the education sector, where the cost of this failure is borne most heavily by learners, whose opportunities are directly compromised.
He highlighted the importance of addressing cases where officials resist reform through misinformation or internal obstruction.
“This move is critical to ensure that corrupt officials are exposed and that appropriate disciplinary action and criminal prosecutions can follow.”
SIU’s advice on conducting lifestyle audits
The request for new lifestyle audits follows a recent update from the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) on its audits across government.
The update included recommendations from the SIU for reforms to enable the DPSA to dig deeper when conducting its audits, like allowing the department to access the financial records of auditees.
The DPSA’s current methodology does not require bank statements or financial records to conduct a lifestyle audit, which leaves wide gaps and loopholes for officials to escape scrutiny.
The SIU recommended its own methodology.
The SIU mandates that public servants provide detailed financial documentation, which includes three years of bank statements and records for mortgages, vehicle financing, cryptocurrency accounts, trust accounts, and corporate financials.
Investigators verify this information by cross-referencing it with external databases, such as the CIPC (to identify business directorships), eNaTIS (to track vehicle ownership), and Windeed (for property records).
They specifically search for discrepancies, such as properties or vehicles that have been settled in cash or paid off in unusually brief periods.
The SIU said that the DPSA guidelines should be amended to require the review of three years’ bank statements, to enable a more precise comparison of income and expenditure.
The SIU also recommended that the DPSA improve the annual asset declaration form by including indicators of hidden wealth, such as livestock, rural land, trusts, cryptocurrency, and offshore accounts.
Since lifestyle audits are not officially included in the SIU Act’s responsibilities, the SIU currently conducts them through secondment agreements.
The unit has requested changes to the SIU Act and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Act that would allow investigators direct access to bank records, rather than relying on employees to provide them.
Additionally, the SIU proposed that the DPSA implement a “blanket lifestyle audit proclamation” to facilitate more straightforward and consistent investigations in high-risk departments.
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