PUBLIC PROTECTOR CONFIRMS RECEIPT OF EXECUTIVE ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT

27 January 2022

The Public Protector South Africa (PPSA) wishes to confirm that a complaint, in which a Member of Parliament has alleged a breach of the Executive Code of Ethics against the President, reached the office late afternoon on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. The complaint was lodged in terms of the Executive Members Ethics Act 82 of 1998 (EMEA). The PPSA has been inundated with queries about the complaint since the sitting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts earlier in the week.

The PPSA wishes to remind all concerned that in terms of the EMEA, the Public Protector must investigate any alleged breach of the Code on receipt of a complaint by the President, a member of the National Assembly or a permanent delegate of the National Council of Provinces if the complaint is against a Cabinet member or a Deputy Minister. The EMEA further provides that such an investigation must be completed within 30 days. The PPSA is the only accountability institution empowered under the EMEA to enforce executive ethics.

Statement issued by the Office of the Public Protector, 27 January 2022