PARLIAMENTARY BULLETIN

Parliament resumes this week with a debate on a new Code of Conduct for Parliamentarians, which will require all Members of the National Assembly and Senate to declare publicly all their financial interests. The new Code of Conduct, drafted largely by the ANC, will ensure that elected representatives maintain the highest standards of propriety and integrity. Its main features are:

• no Parliamentarian should put himself or herself in a position which conflicts with his or her responsibilities as a public representative
• no Parliamentarian can take any improper benefit, profit or advantage from being an elected Member
• there can be no lobbying by any Member for which he or she is remunerated
• a Register of Members' Interests will be drawn up disclosing all financial interests relevant to a Member's position as an elected representative
• a Committee on Members' Interests will be established to supervise the Register of Members' Interests, give advice on the Code of Conduct, report to Parliament on the Code's operation, and recommend sanctions for breaches of the Code.

Register of Members' Interests

The Register of Members' Interests will be drawn up within 30 days of the adoption of the Code of Conduct, and all members must register their financial interests (and those of their spouse, companion and dependant children) within 30 days of the opening of the register or of their election to Parliament. Gifts and hospitality must be updated every two months, and other interests annually.

The Register is in two parts: a Confidential Part, open only to the Committee of Members' Interests; and a Public Part, open to the public. The Code requires that the following 'registerable interests' must be entered into the Register:

• shares and other financial interests
• remunerated employment outside Parliament
• directorships and partnerships, where remuneration is associated with being a Member
• consultancies
• sponsorships
• gifts and hospitality worth more than R350
• benefits
• foreign travel
• land and property
• pensions.

Enforcement of the Code

The new Code of Conduct will be enforced by the Committee of Members' Interests and by Parliament. Any Member found in breach of the Code could be penalised by: a public reprimand; a fine or a reduction of salary or allowances up to 30 days' salary; or the suspension of privileges or the suspension of the right to sit in Parliamentary debates or committees for up to 15 days.

The ANC's Position

The ANC took the lead in drawing up the new Code of Conduct, in order to promote more openness and greater public accountability among Parliamentarians. Other parties resisted some of the features of the new Code as it was being drawn up.

The ANC's Code of Conduct

The ANC's own Code of Conduct, which was adopted in November 1994, goes further than the new Parliamentary Code of Conduct. Its provisions will continue to be rigorously enforced among all Members elected to the National Assembly on the ANC list or who were elected to Senate by provincial legislatures. The key differences are:

• the ANC requires the disclosure of all gifts worth more than R200 (compared to R350 for the new Code)
• the ANC's Register of Interests is updated every six months (compared to every year for the new Code)
• elected Members are banned from having any other type of full-time employment (compared to just having to register such employment under the new Code)
• the failure to sign the Code of Conduct or to disclose financial interests will result in the removal from the ANC list or the Senate (compared to reprimands, fines or temporary suspensions for breaches under the new Code).

Key Lines

The ANC is clearly demonstrating its commitment to clean, open and accountable government, while the National Party practised nepotism, secrecy and corruption for 48 years.

The ANC has already been enforcing its own Code of Conduct for almost two years.

The ANC's Code of Conduct is stricter than that proposed for Parliament, because ANC Parliamentarians put public probity before personal profit.

It was the ANC which pushed for a Parliamentary Code of Conduct and a Register of Members' Interests, when the National Party tried to resist them.

The new Code of Conduct is just one of the many measures that the ANC is promoting to restore honesty and integrity to public life.