Pretoria News reports that Gauteng Premier David Makhura has announced that all MECs and government officials in the province will have to undergo lifestyle audits and polygraph tests in order to win the fight against corruption.

Makhura pointed out on Tuesday that the province was following in the footsteps of the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape, which had already conducted lifestyle audits. He advised further: “MECs will go through a process that will enable them to get a full top secret security clearance. There are two provinces that have done lifestyle audits the way president Ramaphosa has prescribed. The end process of this is that all the MEC’s will do a polygraph test.” Makhura went on to explain: “We are working with the state security agency which has completed the work they have done. The polygraph test is very important for us, it's what we call the gold standard ... to set a precedent that even when officials are appointed as MECs they must undergo the lifestyle audits that will assess their income and the fullness of their competence.” He said the polygraph tests were scheduled for September and all the MEC’s would go through the test. Makhura added that it was a decision of the Department of Public Service and Administration that the lifestyle audits must apply to all the officials in government and that they would also include the assessment of qualifications, viz.: “If you claim you have such a qualification, it will be verified. This will also include if you are involved in any crime. This will also include checking tax compliance.”

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mashudu Sadike at Pretoria News

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