Moroka Matutle, office manager for the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), has conceded he acted without authority in bringing last week’s unsuccessful court bid to stop the Mail & Guardian from hitting the streets.
The M&G reported that NCOP chairperson Joyce Kgoali and African National Congress chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe are among 13 MPs who failed to fully disclose their financial interests (”The MPs who tried to cover their assets”).
”In my consultations with the presiding officers I derived an understanding that we were all in agreement on what steps to take. It was a misunderstanding on my part,” Matutle told the M&G on Wednesday. Asked whether he felt let down, Matutle replied: ”No comment.”
Although there has been no word yet on possible disciplinary steps, Kgoali’s office manager is in an invidious position: he will now have to fork out of his own pocket the legal costs, likely to be in the region of tens of thousands of rands.
Parliament’s legal advisers had not been approached to take up the interdict. ”I had sounded the presiding officers out about possible actions to deal with the matter, but they were not party to the final decision to lodge an urgent application — they therefore did not give instruction for me to proceed in the way I did.”
In addition to the presiding officers, ANC deputy chief whip Andries Nel and NCOP ANC chief whip Vusumzi Windvoel were also informed.
Meanwhile, Parliament’s ethics committee this week took the first steps to probe the non-disclosures. The Registrar of Members’ Interests, Fazela Mahomed, has written to request explanations from all MPs.
In terms of the rules, they have seven days to respond. If warranted, the ethics committee can authorise a full investigation.
Ethics committee chairperson Luwellyn Landers told the M&G it was too early to say what would happen next. ”That depends on the responses — I don’t want to speculate or anticipate.”
Under the ethics code MPs must annually declare all gifts and benefits above R350, sponsorships, shares, directorships and partnerships as well as remunerated employment outside Parliament, including consultancies.
It is understood that Kgoali had disclosed in the confidential section of the register her R2 500 monthly income from Sediba sa Basadi charitable trust, which has a 6% stake in Allpay Gauteng. Allpay distributes social grants to about 1,8-million beneficiaries.
The M&G had established this from other sources.
The ethics code expressly states ”Members’ financial interests are public” while ”information regarding a Member’s immediate family (spouse and minor children) is confidential”.
The code states the value of any pension and the actual remuneration for employment and fees or payments for partnerships are confidential.
The code also stipulates a member ”may not engage in remunerated employment outside Parliament if the employment is incompatible with the Member’s role as public representative”.