Durban - The law governing the conduct of cabinet ministers must be tightened before next year’s general elections, say MPs, after what they have described as a “slap on the wrist” for former communications minister Dina Pule.
Pule was reprimanded by Speaker Max Sisulu on Tuesday and has also been subjected to the full penalties that the House may impose, after being found guilty of misleading Parliament and lying about her relationship with a man who raked in millions of rand from from her department.
She was docked a month’s salary - about R70 000 - and barred from participating in parliamentary debates for 15 days.
On Wednesday, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe faced a series of questions about Pule’s light punishment and the ethics code.
Cope MP Juli Kilian had asked Motlanthe in writing whether there were any progress reports about the implementation of the public protector’s recommendations on the Executive Ethics Code from 2010.
“I believe the deputy president will forgive us if we believe on this side of the House that the government is not serious about rooting out corruption, particularly corruption in the executive, and that they are ignoring key findings and recommendations of the public protector to ensure accountability and a clean administration by the executive,” said Kilian.
She said Pule got “a slap on the wrist” for a serious breach of the executive ethics code.
“At this stage, the Executive Ethics Act lacks the teeth to do more. It does not have any further consequences for ministers who have been found to have been in breach of the ethics code.
Therefore the question arises: What is this government going to do? Will he (Motlanthe) undertake to this House that he will see to it that amendments to the act so as to give it real teeth… be tabled before Parliament?” asked Kilian.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said that unlawful political directives usually got cabinet ministers into trouble, “like the one that was crying here yesterday”, he said, referring to Pule. “The minister must stop telling D-Gs and directors who should get a tender. We need to restore power of accounting officers.”
Motlanthe said that accounting officers, like directors-general, were protected against “unlawful instructions or directives” from ministers.
“Many of them who have doubts that this instruction is not lawful, they inform the minister as the political head… they ask to be given instruction in writing so that there’s a record,” said Motlanthe.
He said the “refined” ethics code was to be submitted and dealt with by the cabinet during its sitting in September. It would then be submitted to Parliament for consideration.
The Mercury