The Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interest is a joint committee of the

Parliament of South Africa The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

that deals with the ethical conduct of Members of Parliament and the disclosure of their financial interests. Its primary function is to promote and oversee the implementation of the parliamentary code of conduct, including by publishing the annual Register of Members' Interests and conducting disciplinary hearings to investigate allegations of misconduct by Members of Parliament. In the 27th Parliament, the Committee comprises 14 members from the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

and nine delegates from the

National Council of Provinces The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the (post-apartheid) constitution which came into full effect in 1997. It replaced the former Senate, but is very similar to that body, and to ma ...

. On 11 September 2019, Bekizwe Nkosi (of the National Assembly) and Lydia Moshodi (of the National Council of Provinces) were elected as its co-chairpersons.

History and activities

The committee was established in 1999 at the outset of the 23rd Parliament in a merger between the Committee on Ethics (spearheaded by

Kader Asmal Abdul Kader Asmal (8 October 1934 – 22 June 2011) was a South African politician. He was a professor of human rights at the University of the Western Cape, chairman of the council of the University of the North and vice-president of the A ...

) and the Committee on Members' Interests. Bernard Ncube was the inaugural chairperson, with

Lawrence Mushwana Adv Lawrence Mabendle Mushwana (born 3 March 1948) was the Public Protector of South Africa before advocate Thuli Madonsela succeeded him. Mushwana was appointed by President Thabo Mbeki from October 2002 until October 2009. Mushwana is a lawyer ...

as her deputy. Since then, the committee has held several high-profile proceedings, including disciplinary investigations into the conduct of

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She ser ...

, Deputy President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

, Yolanda Botha, and

Dina Pule Dina Pule is a South African politician who was Minister of Communications under President Jacob Zuma from October 2011 to July 2013. She was fired during a parliamentary inquiry into allegations that she had contravened the parliamentary cod ...

. In such cases, the Committee makes disciplinary findings and recommends sanctions, but these must be adopted by Parliament in a plenary before they are implemented. The committee has sometimes been criticised as being overly lax in enforcing disciplinary standards.

List of chairpersons

Since the outset of the 25th Parliament in 2009, the committee has had two co-chairpersons, one representing the National Assembly and one representing the National Council of Provinces. To date, all chairpersons have been members of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC), the national governing party.

References

External links

Joint Committee on Ethics and Members Interests
at Parliament of South Africa
Ethics and Members' Interest
at Parliamentary Monitoring Group {{RSAParliamentCommittees, state=collapsed Committees of the Parliament of South Africa