Auditors raise concerns about public-sector lifestyle audits
They take too long, they may infringe on people’s privacy — and corrupt ‘masterminds will always get away’
Performing lifestyle audits on public-sector employees is unlikely to make a meaningful impact on corruption as corruption ringleaders often use channels where their transactions cannot be detected, speakers at the Public Sector Forum said on Tuesday. President Cyril Ramaphosa renewed the call for lifestyle audits on public servants in his 2018 state of the nation address when he said he was looking at introducing the audits for ministers and civil servants to strengthen disclosure and fight corruption in the public sector. A technical task-team, consisting of law enforcement agencies, Sars and the Financial Intelligence Centre, among other entities, has been established to develop the framework that will make lifestyle audits possible. Ramaphosa is expected to announce the progress of the framework in his 2019 address. While the idea is a noble one, the government will first need to deal with loopholes that could make these audits another means for corrupt leaders to victimise thos...
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