Senior civil servants, including heads of departments, are going to have to register their financial interests, including all their shares, directorships, other pay, consultancies and property, and they will be guilty of misconduct if they fail to do so.
But the register of interests will only be open to the public in terms of the provisions of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The information in the register will be confidential, except from the “executing authority” to whom it is submitted and the members and director general of the Public Service Commission
The new Public Service Regulations 2001, providing for the register, have been published in the Government Gazette by the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Dr Zola Skweyiya.
Despite the restrictions of public information to the register, the regulations will introduce new levels of transparency and accountability in the civil service. Any civil servant occupying a senior management service post, defined as “Grade C (Grade 15)”, will be obliged to disclose their interests by April 30 every year.