Serious accusations against Panyaza Lesufi for shielding corrupt officials

Solly Msimanga, the DA leader in Gauteng, has accused Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi of shielding corrupt officials.

This is because Lesufi refuses to make the completed lifestyle audits of the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) officials public.

These lifestyle audits included assessments of department heads, director generals, and the entities’ CEOs.

In January 2026, the DA Gauteng submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act request to the Premier’s office for access to the completed lifestyle audits.

In March 2026, an appeal was sent because the Premier’s office did not respond to the initial request.

“At the beginning of April, we took the matter to the Information Regulator of South Africa,” Msimanga said.

Later in April, the DA Gauteng received a response from the Premier stating that its appeal was denied.

However, the Gauteng Premier sent a summary of the progress of lifestyle audits with no details.

The same happened with 177 forensic reports. Instead of releasing full reports, he released redacted ones, hiding certain information from the public,” he said.

The DA again appealed the decision not to disclose the lifestyle audits, but the Premier rejected the appeal.

“We are currently engaging the Information Regulator of South Africa on this matter,” Msimanga said in a statement.

He said that shielding corrupt officials has become a norm for Premier Lesufi’s government.

“Gauteng Provincial Government officials continue to steal resources meant to improve people’s lives without consequences,” he said.

He added that the same thing had happened with 177 forensic reports that he initially refused to disclose.

“Lesufi only released the reports once the DA had to involve the Information Regulator of South Africa to force him to do so,” Msimanga said.

Even then, Lesufi only released heavily redacted reports, hiding the most crucial information about how the money meant to improve their lives was stolen.

“This showed that he does not take a zero-tolerance approach to corruption, maladministration, and mismanagement of funds,” Msimanga said.

“Lesufi claimed the lifestyle audits were completed in 2023, but they have yet to be released. Lesufi must make the completed lifestyle audits public.”

He said that Gauteng residents are struggling to access basic services such as water, electricity, health care services, and quality education.

This, the DA Gauteng leader said, was due to corrupt officials protected by Lesufi from being held accountable.