Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa previously promised, to much fanfare, lifestyle audits for all his ministers, but he has not made good on the promise.
As he winds down his first term and avails himself for a second, reports of wasteful expenditure persist.
Several publications have quizzed him on the promised lifestyle audits and they report that Ramaphosa has not responded.
The president was asked on Thursday to respond on why this promise had not been fulfilled. His spokesperson, Vince Magwenya, did not respond to queries about the lifestyle audits.
In a parliamentary Q&A session President Ramaphosa reportedly said: “Much work has been done on the approach and methodology to lifestyle audits of members of the executive.
“However, the finalisation of this work is being held in abeyance pending the submission of the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. This is so that any additional measures required to strengthen executive accountability and conduct can be considered holistically.”
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) chairperson Wayne Duvenage said: “It is unacceptable that the president promises to conduct lifestyle audits on the Cabinet ministers, and then doesn’t do so.
“This process should be implemented by independent bodies, and the information should be transparent to citizens.
He said Ramaphosa had introduced performance scorecards for his ministers a few years ago, yet there was no evidence to suggest there were results.
“We really need the president follow through on these promises and seemingly good ideas, which come to naught,” Duvenage said.
In his New Dawn speech, Ramaphosa wrote: “Amasela aba imali ka Rhilumente mawabanjwe (thieves who are stealing public funds should be arrested and prosecuted).
“We must fight corruption, fraud and collusion in the private sector with the same purpose and intensity.”
Meanwhile, former public service and administration minister Ayanda Dlodlo previously announced lifestyle audits would be enforced as a compulsory undertaking for all national and provincial departments from April 1 this year.
Magwenya was asked:
Why have the lifestyle audits not been conducted? When was the last time President Ramaphosa discussed the lifestyle audits with the ministers? Why has he kept quiet about the lifestyle audits? If he has abandoned the idea, why has he not made an announcement to that effect?
Considering that there are those considered to be Gupta ministers, some of whom are now deputy ministers in his executive, is he not concerned about the optics?