AT LEAST 11 DA MP MAY HAVE FAILED TO FULLY DISCLOSE FINANCIAL INTERESTS TO PARLIAMENT

29 October 2015

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip notes yesterday’s publication of the declaration of members’ interests, done in line with parliament’s code of ethical conduct and disclosures of MPs’ interests, by the parliamentary ethics committee. The register of members’ interests indicates that, out of a total of 490 Members of Parliament serving in both Houses of Parliament, at least 478 MPs disclosed their interests within the stipulated deadline, 9 MPs missed the deadline while at least three MPs could not disclose due to ill health. The 9 MPs who missed the deadline will be dealt with in line with the provisions of the ethics code, including publication of their names in the parliamentary papers which form part of the public record.

While the names of the 9 MP who missed the deadlines have not yet been published, the ANC would take strong exception if any of its members are among those who missed the deadline. Parliament’s ethics code of conduct is intended to strengthen accountability and transparency by ensuring MPs uphold high ethical standards of behaviour that the public expect of them. MPs are required to every year publicly disclose interests they hold such as shares in companies, directorships, remuneration for work outside of Parliament, sponsorships, gifts, trusts and any other outside benefit to ensure that there is no conflict of interest in the execution of their duties and enhance public accountability. We commend all our MPs who have strictly complied with the requirements of the Code by not only disclosing within the specified deadline but did so sufficiently and truthfully.

It is with grave concern to note that several MPs in the Democratic Alliance may have failed to sufficiently disclose their interests to the public as demanded by the Code.

Amongst other interests or benefits the Code requires MPs to make public, are sponsorships and gifts received in excess of R1500 from a source other than a family of a serving MP. It is matter of public knowledge that several DA MPs who contested various leadership positions relating to the party’s electoral conference earlier this year personally received financial sponsorships to aid their respective campaigns. We are mindful of the fact that currently there is no legislation directly regulating disclosure of private funding of political parties. However, these DA MPs cannot use this fact as a scapegoat as the benefits they may have received around their own campaigns were handed to them personally (and not the political party), a matter which is regulated under the Code.

These are the names of the 11 DA MPs and the positions they contested:

1. Candidates for DA Leader

Dr Wilmot James

Mr Mmusi Maimane

2. Federal Chairperson

Mr Makashule Gana

3. Candidates for Deputy Federal Chairperson

Mr Joe McGluwa

Mr Stevens Mokgalapa

Ms Desiree Van der Walt

4. Candidates for Chairperson of Federal Council

Mr James Selfe

5. Candidates for Deputy Chairperson of Federal Council

Mr Thomas Walters

6. Candidates for Chairperson of the Federal Finance Committee

Mr Alf Lees

Mr Dirk Stubbe

Mr Andricus Van der Westhuizen

In terms of the register of members’ declarations released yesterday, none of these DA MPs declared the financial sponsorships or gifts they personally received to advance their campaigns. It is a known fact that some of these candidates, such as Mmusi Maimane and Wilmot James ran very expensive campaigns that could have cost hundreds of thousands of rands to finance expenses such as crisscrossing the country, hiring venues, printing placards and even paying stipends for volunteers. Maimane, in particular, publicly admitted that he received various donations from private sources for his campaign.

James Selfe, who is now the chairperson of DA federal council, himself stated in the media in the run-up to their federal congress that the party accepted that campaigning had become more sophisticated and expensive in recent years and that candidates for internal leadership positions could therefore solicit funding provided this was not from existing DA funders. He added: “There is one important qualification: they may not approach existing donors to the party. And they have to disclose the donation to my office.” This is where the DA got it wrong, as such types of benefits are strictly regulated under the Ethics Code and therefore the party’s internal policies are irrelevant in this regard.

Further, these MPs cannot claim to have disclosed their sponsorships in the confidential section of the register as the code is clear that such personal donations are not regarded as confidential.

The Code is intended to encourage ethical conduct and Parliament has the responsibility to enforce compliance. Therefore MPs who fail to comply with the Code by, amongst others, wilfully providing the Registrar with incorrect or misleading information may face one or more of the following penalties:

i) a reprimand in the House;

ii) a fine not exceeding the value of 30 days’ salary;

iii) a reduction of salary allowances for a period not exceeding 30 days; or

iv) the suspension of a member’s certain privileges or a member’s right to seat in parliamentary debates or committees for period not exceeding 30 days

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip will bring this matter of the DA’s group of 11 to the attention of the joint-ethics committee and request that it conducts an investigation to confirm if the code has been breached. Providing incorrect or misleading information to the committee is a serious offence, and therefore if our suspicions are correct, these MPs must face the harshest and most appropriate sanctions as provided for by the code.

Failure to make a full disclosure of interest by any MP seriously undermines the principles of transparency and accountability intended to curb any potential corrupt practices and conflicts of interest. In the case of the DA, such behaviour would be a serious indictment on a party that purports to be the paragons of high morality and ethical conduct. Previously parliament has imposed the harsh sentences allowed by the code against MPs who had failed to make full disclosures.

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, 29 October 2015