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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has submitted a Private Members' Legislative Proposal to the Office of the Speaker, which would eliminate certain anomalies in the Executive Members' Ethics Act. The Act in its current form does not provide for penalties for instances in which it is contravened, and a lacuna in the Act has given rise to a particularly problematic situation in which the President must apply his mind to a report into his own misconduct, and recommend to Parliament what corrective steps he should take about his own misconduct.

The Public Protector stated in her recent report into the President's breach of the Ethics Code that: "In view of the fact that both the Act and the code make no provision for the consequences of violating the Code, Parliament should consider the application, with effect from June 2010, of the same sanctions applicable against members of Parliament found guilty of violating the Parliamentary Code of Conduct." She also urged Parliament to consider "an amendment to the Executive Members' Ethics Act to address all uncertainties or anomalies".

For this reason, the DA has submitted a Bill to the Speaker's office, which seeks to:

Insert a new section into the Act which provides for penalties if the Act is contravened;
Amend section 3 of the Act to include a provision that would compel the Public Protector to submit a report to the Deputy President, rather than the President, in the event of any alleged breach of the Act by the President; and
Insert a provision into the Act which would make it compulsory to gazette the Ethics Code at the beginning of each new Parliament and whenever it is amended.

A copy of the bill can be downloaded from the DA Media Centre.

Parliament must now heed the Public Protector's call for the act to be amended; as such, we see no reason why this proposal should not receive strong cross party support. We look forward to presenting it to the Private Members' and Special Petitions Committee in due course.