Lifestyle audits in South Africa – overrated or X-factor? Jacqui-Lyn McIntyre and Duane Aslett School of Accounting Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa, and Nico Buitendag Faculty of Law, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa Abstract Purpose – President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his 2018 State of the Nation Address, stated that “Thieves who are stealing public funds should be arrested and prosecuted”, and called for lifestyle audits of public-sector employees. The gross misuse of COVID-19 relief funds by public officials indicated the urgent need to execute these audits as an anti-corruption measure. This paper aims to provide a review of the existing state of affairs with regard to the application of lifestyle audits in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach – This paper critically analyses the literature available on the current position of South Africa concerning lifestyle audits in the public sector, based on the mandates of some of the anti-corruption agencies that could be responsible for the conducting and processing of such audits. Findings – South Africa has only recently seen a framework for applying lifestyle audits, developed by the Department of Public Service and Administration. Although these first steps in developing a standard practice are laudable, the practical process of dealing with misconduct and/or criminal matters remains to be seen. It is recommended that South Africa consider a legislative approach to dealing with unlawfully obtained wealth by either criminalising the act of illicit enrichment (per the United Nations Convention Against Corruption) or creating an Unexplained Wealth Order, as seen, for example, in the UK. Originality/value – South Africa is in dire need of addressing corruption in the public sector. Despite lifestyle audits being called for, the lack of proper implementation is negating any positive outcomes. Therefore, alternative solutions should be investigated. Keywords Anti-corruption agencies, Corruption, Lifestyle audits, Lifestyle investigations Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Corruption is worse than prostitution. The first endangers the morals of an individual and the latter the morals of an entire nation. – Karl Kraus, Austrian satirist (1874–1936) © Jacqui-Lyn McIntyre, Duane Aslett and Nico Buitendag. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non- commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode The authors would like to thank the Workwell Research Unit at the North-West University for its support in this project, which was completed under the sub-programme ReTORIC (Research and Teaching in Organised & Integrity Crimes). JFC 30,4 1078 Journal of Financial Crime Vol. 30 No. 4, 2023 pp. 1078-1095 Emerald Publishing Limited 1359-0790 DOI 10.1108/JFC-07-2022-0172 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1359-0790.htm