Deputy Minister in the Presidency Pinky Kekana should be reprimanded in the National Assembly after the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests found her guilty of contravening the ethics code by failing to declare the R170 000 she received from corruption-accused tenderpreneur Edwin Sodi.

The committee agreed to her pleas to keep secret the reason why she took the money from Sodi, and Kekana doesn't even have to be present in the House when she is reprimanded.

Sodi is a co-accused of suspended African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Ace Magashule for the Free State "asbestos scam", which stems from the Zondo Commission's work.

The Zondo Commission also found Sodi's largesse to the ANC and politically connected "friends" – which included payments totalling R170 000 to Kekana, payments totalling R174 760 to Deputy Minister in the Presidency Zizi Kodwa and R45 000 to Labour and Employment Minister Thulas Nxesi - "problematic".

Sodi provided millions of rands to the ANC.

He made a payment of R140 000 to Kekana on 29 August 2015 and another of R30 000 on 28 March 2017, according to the Zondo Commission.

Sodi couldn't explain to the commission why he made payments to Kekana, whom he referred to as a "sister".

Kekana became an MP in 2014. MPs are required to declare gifts and donations to the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests.

The commission found that since Sodi "acquired his great wealth and ability to make such loans or donations to 'friends' by reason of his business interests which include extremely lucrative contracts with government departments, there can only but be great concern over such 'loans' or assistance given to 'friends' who occupy influential positions in government or in the ruling party".

National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula referred the part of the Zondo Commission's report to the committee in May, which decided to process the referral on 6 June.

"The member [Kekana] was duly notified and was requested to provide written representations on the content on the report," reads the committee's report, which was published on Wednesday.

"The allegations in the report against the member predates her appointment as the deputy minister in the Presidency."

Kekana provided her response to the committee on 20 June, in which she confirmed that she received the payments of R140 000 in 2015 and the payment of R30 000 in 2017 from Sodi.

The committee's report reads: "She indicates that she was not aware that she had to disclose the money that she received from Mr Sodi and that had she been aware of the disclosure requirements, she would have disclosed the money that she received."

Kekana also confirmed that she was an MP when she received Sodi's money.

The committee report reads: 

She explained that she and Mr Sodi are close family friends and therefore she was not required to repay the money to him.

"The member asked the committee to treat her explanation for why she received the money, as confidential. Having heard the explanation, the committee agreed to treat the explanation as confidential and not to make the reason(s) public. The committee agreed to only release information that part of her explanation was based on medical reasons."

The committee found that Kekana contravened the ethics code in that she "failed to comply with the requirements of the provision for disclosing interests".

Kekana was afforded an opportunity to present written representations to the committee on the penalty it should impose. She said the following, according to the committee's report:

"She was a Member of Parliament at the time when she received the money from Mr Sodi;

Her failure to disclose the receipt of the money was not intended to mislead Parliament;

She was friends with Mr Sodi's wife, who asked Mr Sodi for money for the member;

At the time when Mr Sodi gave her money, it was not intended for any 'kickbacks' or 'bribes'; and

The member asked that all other details be kept confidential."

The penalties prescribed include a fine of up to 30 days' salary, docking 30 days' pay, limiting certain privileges or prohibiting the member from taking a seat in parliamentary debates for 30 days, or a reprimand in the House.

The committee, "having considered the reasons offered by the member for receiving the money from Mr Sodi", decided that Kekana should be reprimanded in the House.

"However, owing to the extent of the confidential information that the member shared with the committee, the committee agreed to the request of the House to impose the reprimand on the member, in her absence."

The committee's report must first be adopted by the National Assembly for the penalty to come into effect. The committee gave no indication on whether it investigated Kodwa and Nxesi.