Casac calls on speaker, committee for urgent review of Ethics Act

PARLIAMENT has failed to meet the deadline set by the public protector in the State of Capture report, including reviewing‚ within 180 days‚ the Executive Members’ Ethics Act.

Yesterday, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) called on National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete and the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services to deal with the review of the Ethics Act as a matter of urgency.

The review will deal with how transgressions of the ethics code by the President should be processed‚ said Casac executive director Lawson Naidoo.

In her swansong report, then public protector Thuli Madonsela recommended that parliament reviewthe Ethics Act to provide better guidance regarding integrity‚ including avoidance and management of conflicts of interest.

This‚ the report stated‚ should clearly define the responsibilities of those in authority regarding a proper response to whistleblowing and whistleblowers.

Consideration should also be given to a transversal code of conduct for all state employees.

Casac said the six-month period had long since expired‚ and correspondence with parliament indicated that the speaker only referred the report to the portfolio committee of justice and correctional services on February 16 this year. The portfolio committee has yet to consider the matter‚ and the speaker wrote to the committee again on June 14 requesting a timeline for completion of the review after Casac’s earlier letter to her requesting an update. “There appears to have been no response from the committee to the speaker.

“This demonstrates once again – following the experience of the Nkandla debacle and the judicial admonishment of the National Assembly by the Constitutional Court – parliament’s dilatory approach in dealing with reports from the office of the public protector‚” said Naidoo.

President Jacob Zuma has challenged the report in court. — DDC