DA says Makhura was bluffing about lifestyle audits all along

In a statement on Sunday, DA member of the Gauteng legislature Jack Bloom said Premier David Makhura has allegedly had second thoughts on his commitment to subject himself and his MECs to lifestyle audits this year.

He said a written reply from the premier now made it clear that if the lifestyle audits were ever to take place, it would be unlikely to still be during Makhura’s current term because he was now waiting for a national task team to first “develop a framework” for how lifestyle audits should be done.

He quoted the Gauteng premier’s answer as follows: “President Cyril Ramaphosa has recently announced in Parliament that he has established a Task Team led by Dr Cassius Lubisi, Director General in the Presidency and comprising of senior officials from the Auditor General, the South African Revenue Service, South African Police Service, the Anti-Corruption Task Team, the Public Service Commission, the Financial Intelligence Centre and other entities.

“The Task is charged with the responsibility to develop a Framework tor the Lifestyles Audits. This Framework for the Lifestyles Audits will provide much-needed guidance to all spheres of government on how to conduct lifestyle audits.

“Gauteng provincial government keenly awaits the completion [to] ensure that our provincial lifestyle audits are done in line with legal prescripts.”

Bloom said this contradicted Makhura’s pledge in his state of the province address in February where he had said “I want to take a lead together with MECs to subject ourselves to lifestyle audits this year”.

He pointed out that Makhura had already waited nearly four years into his premiership before declaring that he would institute lifestyle audits for politicians and senior officials, “but it is extremely unlikely that any will be done before his term of office ends in May next year”.

Bloom said Makhura would not have to wait for state agencies to do lifestyle audits “as private companies can do it with the voluntary assent of individuals”.

He claimed this proved that the ANC in Gauteng was not serious about fighting corruption, “which is rampant in provincial departments with little action taken against those like Brian Hlongwa who has been implicated in R1.2 billion corruption in the Health Department but still sits in the ANC’s Provincial Executive Committee”.

(Compiled by Charles Cilliers)

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