DG Mathanzima Mweli says he proposed lifestyle audits, rejects reports he refused

Basic Education director‑general Mathanzima Mweli has disputed media reports that he refused to submit to a lifestyle audit, saying he proposed the audits and raised concerns only about how his own review would be conducted.

He says he suggested the audits

In a statement issued through his attorneys, Mweli said on Monday night that he had proposed to Minister Siviwe Gwarube and Deputy Minister Reginah Mhaule that the three of them voluntarily undergo lifestyle audits. He said he had also encouraged his deputy directors‑general to do the same.

Rejecting the “refusal” narrative

“I support lifestyle audits in the public service, and I am willing to undergo one,” Mweli said. He added that reports describing his position as a refusal were wrong:

“My raising concerns about that process should not be portrayed as a refusal to account or to submit to legitimate scrutiny.”

Concerns about process and confidentiality

Mweli said his objection related to how his audit was to be run, including how his confidential information would be handled. He referred to the Guide to Implement Lifestyle Audits in the Public Service as the framework that set standards of confidentiality, fairness and independence, and said his concern was that the process relating to him be conducted in accordance with that framework.

Prior steps and related reporting

Mweli said he had already begun talks with the head of the Special Investigating Unit on arrangements for the audits when they were publicly presented as an instruction from the minister to senior managers, including himself.

The Sunday Times reported last week that Mweli had sent Minister Gwarube a lawyer’s letter refusing the audit, and that he was understood to have cited his constitutional right to privacy and argued that a lifestyle audit was not an obligation under his employment contract. Mweli told that paper at the time he was willing to be audited, “as he had undergone top‑secret vetting that included polygraph tests, provided it was done lawfully.”

Context: minister’s public position

Minister Gwarube published an open letter on March 27 saying she had brought in the SIU to conduct lifestyle audits and warning that those with the most to lose from the clean‑up would fight back. Gwarube has also said she had undergone a lifestyle audit herself and that all senior officials would have to do the same.

Related developments in the department

Gwarube suspended the new Grade 1 to 3 textbook catalogue on September 2. Mweli later informed the Publishers’ Association of South Africa that provinces could buy learning materials from the catalogue. The ANC issued a statement on September 11 backing Mweli and raising concern about what it called growing instability in the department since Gwarube’s 2024 appointment.

Political reactions

The DA’s Geordin Hill‑Lewis raised the matter at a party event in Ekurhuleni, saying:

“She has insisted that the Director‑General of Education undergo a lifestyle audit. He has refused,”

and asking why one would refuse “a simple confirmation that says your lifestyle matches your income?”

Mweli said he would not debate the details of the process publicly and rejected suggestions that his stance cast doubt on his integrity or his handling of public money. He noted he had served in government for more than 40 years and as director‑general since 2015.