In a 13 April 2026 interview on CapeTalk with Clarence Ford, Stephen Sadie unpacked the role of lifestyle audits in strengthening governance across South Africa.
Despite South Africa being home to world-class governance frameworks, major failures at organisations such as Steinhoff, Tongaat Hulett, EOH and Daybreak highlight the need for more proactive oversight.
Lifestyle audits, when properly applied, can serve as an early warning mechanism. Conducted in three stages, lifestyle review, lifestyle investigation, and lifestyle audit, they are designed to identify unexplained wealth and mitigate risks before they escalate.
However, their success depends on proper implementation.
The discussion pointed to both progress and gaps:
- The Western Cape has taken a more rigorous approach, extending lifestyle audits to include spouses and life partners, with independent oversight by an external auditing firm based in Gauteng.
- At the same time, persistent allegations in national and provincial departments, as well as recent matters in Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, highlight that audits alone are not enough.
A key concern raised was that corruption often originates at junior levels, particularly in supply chain management, and have evolved into entrenched networks over time. Lifestyle audits can help uncover these networks, but only if supported by deeper forensic investigation. Institutions like SARS have demonstrated the effectiveness of doing proper lifestyle audits on taxpayers with unexplained income and assets.
Crucially, consequence management remains limited. Without accountability at leadership level for proper lifestyle audits, there is little incentive to act decisively against wrongdoing.
