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Displaying the 30 latest comments.
Submitted | first-name | support | top-concern | message |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2026-02-02 15:35:32 +02:00 | Dewald | No I do not | Tightening the grip on financial services | I would prefer if you could rather investigate the municipalities firstly and then all other government projects secondly before coming to an middle class man with these surveillance ideas. You are trying to audit a person with middle class income where you could rather investigate billions of Rands getting flushed somewhere else |
2026-02-02 15:35:10 +02:00 | Neil | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | These filth bucket politicians are getting more than enough tax funds to uphold their own cushy lifestyles. What more do they want? Bloody rubbish want their grubby stinky paws in every law abiding citizen s private life. Screw them. |
2026-02-02 15:32:48 +02:00 | Lisa | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:30:20 +02:00 | Werna | No I do not | All of the above | While combating money laundering and terrorism financing is important, these measures must comply with the Constitution and the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). The proposed lifestyle audits constitute a serious intrusion into the private lives of law-abiding citizens, allowing extensive scrutiny of personal financial and lifestyle information without clear thresholds, judicial oversight, or sufficient safeguards. Section 14 of the Constitution guarantees the right to privacy. Any limitation of this right must be lawful, reasonable, and proportionate. As currently drafted, the Bill risks enabling broad surveillance of compliant taxpayers, undermining POPIA’s purpose-limitation and data-protection principles, and eroding trust between citizens and the State. South Africa already has a largely responsible tax base. Policing compliant citizens through invasive lifestyle monitoring is unnecessary and disproportionate. Enforcement efforts should instead be targeted, intelligence-driven, and focused on genuine criminal activity. I respectfully submit that the lifestyle audit provisions should not be enacted in their current form and should be substantially revised to include clear safeguards, independent oversight, and full alignment with constitutional rights and POPIA. |
2026-02-02 15:28:34 +02:00 | Leigh | No I do not | All of the above | What next are the goverment doing ? |
2026-02-02 15:26:34 +02:00 | BENITA | Not fully | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:25:30 +02:00 | Richard | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | One can see where this is going to, FBI or KGB style. If I am a criminal and need to be investigated, there are things in place to enable access to personal info. Otherwise there is no reason to have need to know access to one's personal data. |
2026-02-02 15:24:37 +02:00 | Jacobus | Not fully | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | The lifestyle audit principle is good. However, it should not be triggered by all of state departments and municipalities. There should be one body that can trigger this after some proper investigations. It can not be handed out to just about any state organ. Never |
2026-02-02 15:23:44 +02:00 | SALLY | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:22:35 +02:00 | Pieter | No I do not | All of the above | Below are key reasons why the amendments are considered excessive and why they should not be permitted, drawing from civil society, legal, and anti-corruption perspectives. Reasons Why the Amendments Constitute Overreach 1. **Infringement on Constitutional Privacy Rights**: The audits enable invasive scrutiny of personal finances, lifestyles, and records without necessarily requiring prior evidence of wrongdoing, potentially violating South Africa's constitutional right to privacy under Section 14 of the Bill of Rights. Critics highlight that proactive access to databases and extended data retention (e.g., seven years for bank records) exposes citizens to unwarranted state surveillance, turning everyday financial activities into potential triggers for investigation. This level of intrusion is seen as disproportionate, especially since data protection laws like POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) restrict such probes without consent or clear justification, risking lawsuits and eroding personal freedoms. 2. **Expansion of State Powers Without Adequate Oversight**: The bill shifts the FIC from a reactive role (responding to suspicious transactions) to a proactive one, allowing audits based on "reasonable belief" by state organs, which opponents argue lacks sufficient checks and balances to prevent abuse.This could lead to overstepping into private lives, with powers extending to NPOs (e.g., administrative sanctions up to R1 million or imprisonment) and companies (e.g., deregistration for late filings), resembling excessive control rather than targeted anti-corruption, Without mandatory independent oversight or proportionality principles, the measures risk enabling unchecked governmental interference, particularly in a country with a history of corruption and state capture. 3. **Risk of Political Abuse and Selective Enforcement**: Lifestyle audits could be weaponized against political opponents, critics, or specific groups, as they rely on subjective judgments about "living standards" and may be applied selectively. Historical concerns from similar initiatives, like those recommended by the Zondo Commission, include fears of political interference and lack of transparency in outcomes, which could undermine public trust rather than build it,compulsory legislation ensuring fairness and public accessibility of results, the process invites misuse, especially in a context where executive overreach has been documented. 4. **Violation of Presumption of Innocence and Due Process**: By initiating audits without concrete evidence of illegality, the amendments effectively reverse the burden of proof, requiring individuals to justify their lifestyles, which contravenes the presumption of innocence—a core element of the right to a fair trial under Section 35 of the Constitution. This approach is criticized as intrusive and punitive, potentially leading to reputational harm or legal penalties before any guilt is established, and it walks a "tightrope between investigation and intrusion. 5. **Unnecessary Breadth Beyond AML/CFT Goals**: While framed as necessary for FATF compliance, the amendments go further by embedding lifestyle audits into broader regulatory changes that affect ordinary citizens, NPOs, and businesses without direct ties to money laundering or terrorism this exceeds what's required, creating a surveillance state that monitors "everyday institutions and personal lives" disproportionately, especially when existing laws already address suspicious activities. The potential for fines, imprisonment, or deregistration for minor non-compliance (e.g., late submissions) amplifies this overreach, prioritizing control over targeted enforcement. Why These Amendments Should Not Be Allowed Allowing these amendments would erode fundamental rights, foster a culture of suspicion, and damage societal trust in institutions, all while risking abuse in a corruption-prone environment. |
2026-02-02 15:20:30 +02:00 | David | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits. This appears to an irrational and thoughtless consideration of the State: 1) The current Tax Income System for SARS provides 3rd Party financial information directly and independently, by populating each taxpayers income data base. Is that not sufficient and in compliance with the law? 2) A Lifestyle Audit will require additional skilled and educated stall in order to assess and audit the returns. Firstly, I do not believe South Africa has the qualified staff available. Secondly, South Africa cannot afford this additional cost; 3) How safe will the storage of this electronic information be? It will be hacked by syndicates internal personnel from the Auditor and the professional hacker. The identification by the hackers of the personal wealth of individuals will lead to increased home robberies, looting of bank accounts and kidnapping, followed by the call for ransom money; 4) The Government is knowingly financing terrorism by blind eying the non-payment of VAT by Taxi Associations and providing Government officials with benefits which are not taxed, neither per Government decree, nor declared by the individual. 5) This is just another golden pot which will be desecrated. |
2026-02-02 15:20:16 +02:00 | Bezzy | Yes I do | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:16:00 +02:00 | Linda | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:15:46 +02:00 | Willemk | Yes I do | No concern | It is time that l8festyle aufmduts are done to ensure tax evaders are found and prosecurmted as well as to find the corrupt politicians and government employees and thos that pay it. I have nothing to hide so happy to be audited if it can stop corruption and tax evasion that directly impacts my tax burden as a law abiding person. |
2026-02-02 15:14:45 +02:00 | Michelle | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | Do not support government departments having unprecedented power on private citizens. Please focus on the things that needs your attention and bring changes that would improve the lives of South Africans. If anything, start lifestyle audits on government employees where corruption is rife with no repercussions. |
2026-02-02 15:13:29 +02:00 | Julie-Ann | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | |
2026-02-02 15:13:00 +02:00 | Catharine | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:12:25 +02:00 | Werner | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:12:11 +02:00 | Nelson | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | |
2026-02-02 15:11:31 +02:00 | Jacques | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:07:47 +02:00 | Manny | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:07:15 +02:00 | Bernie | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:06:44 +02:00 | Zinhle | No I do not | Tightening the grip on financial services | |
2026-02-02 15:05:16 +02:00 | Kenneth | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | This law can be abused by government. Too far ranging. If Sars would like to investigate using powers like this they should need to approach the court to get an order to do so. |
2026-02-02 15:05:11 +02:00 | Andrew | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits | |
2026-02-02 15:04:18 +02:00 | Jennifer | No I do not | All of the above | This proposal is an invasion of personal freedom and civil rights. |
2026-02-02 15:03:55 +02:00 | Cecilia | No I do not | All of the above | They just want full control to benefit themselves! We already have limited privacy and now they want to take it all just to get more money |
2026-02-02 15:02:07 +02:00 | Dez | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 15:01:35 +02:00 | Willem | No I do not | All of the above | |
2026-02-02 14:58:08 +02:00 | Michael | No I do not | State Surveillance in the form of Lifestyle Audits |