The Presidency and Cabinet were implementing the findings of the Public Protector's report on the Declaration of Interests by the Executive, the Presidency said on Friday.

Spokesperson for the Minister in the Presidency, Harold Maloka, said in a statement that media reports creating an impression of laxity were incorrect.

"The Public Protector's report is being treated with the seriousness it deserves and everything will be done to ensure compliance," Maloka said.

He said that owing to a lack of clarity on who the President should approach for permission to accept gifts valued at more than R1 000, the Presidency and the Justice Minister were now reviewing the Executive Ethics Code.

"The Cabinet also agreed that the gaps identified need to be addressed within a more comprehensive review of the Code itself in order to clarify and align all relevant aspects of the Code so as to ensure unambiguous understanding and a clearer adherence regime."

He said that the Presidency had asked the National Assembly and the Office of the Public Protector for more time to carry out the review. The review would be presented to Cabinet for approval once it has been completed.

On Tuesday, the office of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela said that she would set a deadline for the Presidency and the Justice Ministry's promised review of the Executive Ethics Code following President Jacob Zuma's failure to declare his interests on time.

Madonsela in April found that Zuma had breached section 5 of the Executive Ethics Code by failing to declare his interests within 60 days of taking office. He only did so in March this year after a media outcry, missing the deadline by some eight months.

She found that the President was not the only culprit and that non-compliance was rife among Cabinet members.

Madonsela asked that her findings be studied by Cabinet and then forwarded to Parliament. Her report pointed to shortcomings in the act and made proposals on how to address them, including introducing penalties for Cabinet members who fail to comply.

She called on Parliament to impose the same penalties to those who breach the Executive Members' Ethics Act that already apply to MPs who violate the parliamentary code of conduct, as from this month.

She also asked Parliament to tell her by month's end whether penalties for non-compliance with the ethics code should also apply to the President.

But by Tuesday the joint committee has done no more than "noted" her recommendations, and press reports suggested plans to tighten the rules were being frustrated by the office of the Chief Whip of the African National Congress.

Chief Whip Mathole Motshekga's office told the Sunday Independent that Parliament could not process Madonsela's recommendations or give a political mandate for an ethics review until Cabinet had tabled recommendations on how the anomalies in the act should be resolved.