There is no concrete proof that the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has conducted lifestyle audits on Members of the Executive Council (MEC) and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
Lifestyle audits are critical if the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) is committed to rooting out corruption.
For a long time now, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has been pushing the provincial government to release the findings of its lifestyle audits. During his maiden State of the Province Address (SOPA), Premier Lesufi indicated that the three newly appointed MECs would undergo a lifestyle audit.
In a reply to our questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), Premier Lesufi indicated the process would be complete after the three outstanding lifestyle audits on the new MECs were concluded.
However, it is concerning that to date, the lifestyle audits completed on the remaining MECs, and the Premier have not been released.
Furthermore, the next set of lifestyle audits will be conducted on Director Generals, Heads of Departments and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of GPG entities.
Corruption is rife within the government, and the only way this can be rooted out is by doing regular lifestyle audits and making these findings public.
The DA will continue to pressure Premier Lesufi to release the lifestyle audit reports to hold him and his executives accountable. In addition, we will be tabling questions to the Minister of State Security, Mondli Gungubele, to determine what their involvement has been in the lifestyle audits that the Gauteng Executive underwent.