Mandatory lifestyle audits for local government officials proposed by Cogta

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) is mooting the introduction of lifestyle audits in the sphere of local government.

Lifestyle audits are currently not mandatory for officials and councillors in the municipalities.

But, this could soon be something of the past if the statements made by Cogta minister Velenkosini Hlabisa are anything to go by.

Hlabisa made his intention to introduce the lifestyle audits in municipalities when he was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Anna Maria van Zyl.

“The department is engaging with the South African Local Government Association and the Department of Public Service and Administration to introduce lifestyle audits at municipalities.

“The parties are also analysing the existing local government legislative framework to determine if it is sufficient to roll out lifestyle audits at the municipal level,” he said.

Responding to Van Zyl, Hlabisa said asset disclosures are mandatory for municipal managers and section 56 managers in line with the Code of Conduct for Municipal Staff Members and Regulations on Appointment and Conditions of Employment for Senior Managers.

“The maintenance of registers for the management of disclosures and the declaration of interests, including the interest in property, is administered by municipalities in terms of item 8 of schedule 7 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors.”

Hlabisa said councillors were required in terms of the code to declare their financial interest to the municipal manager within 60 days of their election.

He also said his department did not possess information identifying municipalities that have conducted lifestyle audits.

“The department does not possess information that identifies municipalities that have enforced asset disclosures in each of the past five financial years.”

The move by Hlabisa comes hot on the heels of reports that nearly 400 senior civil servants that underwent lifestyle audits in both the national and provincial government were referred for internal investigations by their departments over the past three financial years.

However, none of the officials were reported to the police for criminal investigations during the same period.

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently said members of the executive have granted consent to the Director-General and the Secretary of the Cabinet to conduct the lifestyle audits for the 2024/25 financial year.

Responding to parliamentary questions, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said no employees were subjected to lifestyle audits in the National Treasury.

He said his department conducted lifestyle reviews on two chief directors and one director in the 2021/22.

“The lifestyle review cleared the senior management service (SMS) members, and no further tests were performed.”

Godongwana also said no SMS members were referred for lifestyle reviews for the 2022/23 and the 2023/24 financial years.

“The financial disclosures made in the 2024/25 financial year are still undergoing verification,” he said.

The minister stated that the National Treasury has bolstered its capacity to conduct lifestyle reviews by training its staff and sourcing appropriate tools to collate lifestyle review information with the aim of enhancing its processes.

Meanwhile, the Border Management Authority (BMA) has put on the backburner the lifestyle audits of its employees due to lack of funds.

Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber said the BMA engaged the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in January 2025 to conduct lifestyle audits on its employees.

Schreiber said the lifestyle audit would have been conducted in a phased approach on selected categories of employees before subjecting all other employees depending on the available budget.

“The SIU provided a comprehensive project plan, cost estimate, and the secondment agreement on 14 February 2025 and it was agreed ‘in principle’ that Phase 1 of the project will be implemented from 1 April 2025 to March 2026. 

“However, the BMA did not receive additional funding for the 2025/2026 financial year. The BMA has therefore decided to place the lifestyle audit project on hold due to budget constraints as no additional funds were received to support new projects in the current financial year.”

Schreiber said although the lifestyle audits were delayed due to financial constraints, normal vetting of all the members was underway and was conducted by State Security Agency.

Social Development minister Sisisi Tolashe said the lifestyle draft policy was at consultation stage before approval at the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa).

“Development of lifestyle review and audit policy, that is crucial to ensure that the processes are conducted in a manner that is legally compliant, procedurally fair, and consistent with best practices in public administration,” Tolashe said.

She also said Sassa remained committed to upholding the principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability.

 mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za