Maimane seeks legal advice over Parliament's ethics committee charges

Cape Town - DA leader Mmusi Maimane's legal team is considering a claim by Parliament's ethics committee that he did not declare his interests properly.

He is reportedly facing a fine and a reprimand. 

"It is clear the ethics committee is being used and abused by the ANC to try and score political points," Maimane's spokesperson, Mabine Seabe, said on Tuesday.

"We will not let this happen. In this case, the Ethics Committee apparently charged Mr Maimane, met and decided on a sanction without ever even informing Mr Maimane or inviting him to participate. 

"Whatever the so-called sanction, which is clearly arrived at illegitimately, we will definitely not accept it and the matter is currently being considered by the DA's legal team."

Seabe did not give details of the complaint, or the sanction, but said the first formal notification the party received was on Friday - after the case had already been heard and decided upon. "This is a total disregard of the basic principles of fair process and we will not stand for it."

Comment from Parliament's ethics committee was not immediately available.

Earlier, Netwerk24 reported that the committee, which meets in private, had found Maimane guilty of not declaring three sponsorships on time.

MPs are required to declare their assets and anything that is given to them in the course of their work, as part of Parliament's monitoring system.

The office of the ANC chief whip said in November that a formal letter of complaint was submitted to the committee, asking it to "conduct an official investigation on the 11 DA MPs believed to have misled Parliament in their declarations of financial interests".

"The ANC believes that DA leader Mmusi Maimane and his 10 colleagues who contested for positions at the party's electoral federal congress in May failed to disclose financial donations they personally sought for their campaigns."

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.