TimesLIVE reports that according to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, no National Treasury officials were subjected to lifestyle audits in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question, Godongwana indicated that the Department of Public Service and Administration provided guidelines for three progressive stages of integrity checks, namely lifestyle reviews, lifestyle investigations and lifestyle audits. “Lifestyle review is the first test and assesses whether an official is living within their means, but it is inconclusive to confirm wrongdoing. Lifestyle reviews are conducted based on discrepancies or red flags identified during the financial disclosure period. Lifestyle investigation is the second test and serves to probe further the findings from a lifestyle review, to confirm undeclared sources of income and any wrongdoing. Lifestyle audit is the third test and is a more complex version of lifestyle investigation,” Godongwana explained.
In response about the number of officials audited and the outcomes, Godongwana said lifestyle reviews were last conducted in the 2021/22 financial year on two chief directors and one director. “All three senior management service (SMS) members were cleared and no further steps were taken. No SMS members were referred for lifestyle reviews in 2022/23 and 2023/24.” Godongwana said the Treasury had “bolstered its capacity to conduct lifestyle reviews by training its staff and sourcing appropriate tools” and was consolidating its ethics function under the office of the director-general to improve oversight.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Modiegi Mashamaite at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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