Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana has cleared Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota of a charge that his undeclared business interests exposed him to a conflict of interests, leading President Thabo Mbeki to close the book on the matter.
But questions remain about Mushwana’s narrow interpretation of the Executive Ethics Code; an interpretation that contributed to his decision on Lekota.
The Mail & Guardian first exposed Lekota’s interests in a fuel distributorship and wine businesses in May. Lekota had not declared these either to Parliament or to the Cabinet, as required by law.
Lekota, who readily admitted the non-disclosure but ascribed it to an oversight, was subsequently docked a week’s salary by Parliament and fined R5 000 by his party, the African National Congress. Both reprimanded him.
But that all related to his non-disclosure to Parliament only. Ministers are subject to the further duty to declare the same interests to Cabinet under the Executive Members’ Ethics Act and its Executive Ethics Code. The public protector is charged by law to investigate any complaint relating to a breach of the code, and refer it to the president for possible action.
When Mbeki laid no complaint with the public protector, Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson did. Mushwana last month forwarded his report to Mbeki, who submitted it to Parliament this week. Mbeki recommended no further sanction, saying Lekota had already been punished by Parliament.
Two aspects of Mushwana’s findings and Mbeki’s decision are controversial.
Mushwana finds, on Lekota’s non-disclosure, that since ”the mischief that the Parliamentary Ethics Code [under which Parliament sanctioned the minister] seeks to prevent … is the same as that which the Executive Ethics Code seeks to prevent … it [is] unnecessary to deal with this matter again.”
Mushwana argued against a second punishment, saying it could not have been the intention that a minister who contravenes both codes should be sanctioned twice. Mbeki accepted this.
This week Gibson said: ”Cabinet members have a far higher obligation than ordinary Members of Parliament.” The earlier parliamentary sanction did not take account of this, and was not enough, he argued.
The second focus of Mushwana’s probe was whether Lekota’s business interests had exposed him to a potential conflict of interest. The M&G exposÃ