Johannesburg – Department of Basic Education Director-General Mathanzima Hubert Mweli has moved to correct reports that he was resisting a lifestyle audit.
“Some of that reporting has characterised my position as a refusal to undergo a lifestyle audit. That characterisation does not reflect my position,” Mweli said in a statement late Monday, 21 September 2026.
The Director-General said he was, in fact, a proponent of Lifestyle audits at the department, but he merely expressed concerns about the process.
He stated that his concerns have not been about whether lifestyle audits should be conducted or whether he should undergo one.
“They concern the manner in which the particular process relating to me is to be conducted, including the treatment of confidential and personal information and the safeguards applicable to the process,” explained Mweli.
“Lifestyle audits involve sensitive personal and financial information.”
The applicable public-service framework, including the Guide to Implement Lifestyle Audits in the Public Service, sets standards for the conduct of lifestyle audits, including confidentiality, fairness, independence, due care, and professionalism.
“My concern is that the process relating to me be conducted in accordance with that framework,” stated Mweli, who has been employed in the government for more than 40 years.
“I am willing to undergo the lifestyle audit. The process should, like any lifestyle audit in the public service, be conducted in accordance with the applicable framework.
“My raising concerns about that process should not be portrayed as a refusal to account or to submit to legitimate scrutiny.”
Meanwhile, Basic Education Minister Gwarube insists that her director-general, Mweli, must undergo a lifestyle audit, but downplayed reports of a rift over the matter.
Minister Gwarube said all officials required to participate must submit to the process.
The minister said she had undergone a lifestyle audit and argued that senior officials should be prepared to meet the same standard.
