By Bongani Majola
JOHANNESBURG councillors are now required to declare all financial interests, gifts and donations they receive, to council's newly established ethics committee.
If a councillor has shares in any company, sits on any board of trustees, receives income other than from the council or has received gifts and donations amounting to more than R350, then he or she is obliged to declare those interests to the committee.
"Failure to declare," says committee chair and the speaker of the council, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, "amounts to corruption and is an act of unethical behaviour. Even if councillors do not have anything to declare, they still have to sign and return the declaration of interests forms."
Set up late last year, the committee has already had three seatings. It is made up of six members, including the speaker, two African National Congress representatives and a single member from the Democratic Alliance, the Inkatha Freedom Party and the African Christian Democratic Party.
All political parties represented in the council have been very enthusiastic about the committee, says Mayathula-Khoza, "and it shows the City's commitment to entrenching a culture of good governance and of ethics".
Forms for declaration of interests have been distributed to all councillors and, according to legal adviser in the office of the City Manager, Nomsa Mgida, "the response has been overwhelming as councillors now understand the importance of declaring".
Established in terms of legislation pertaining to the Register of Financial Interests of the Councillors, the committee meets quarterly and reports to council annually on its activities. The next committee meeting is on 6 May 2003, where members will consolidate the Register of Financial Interests already declared by councillors.
In addition to supervising and managing the Register of Financial Interests of Councillors, the committee must publish the register annually in August. The ethics committee is also empowered, should the need arise, to amend the Declaration of Financial Interest Form of Councillors.
Meetings of the ethics committee are held in closed session and the committee considers matters affecting councillors in the strictest of confidence, says Mgida.
"A matter before the committee is decided when there is agreement on it among the majority of the members present, provided at least three of its members are present."
Mgida says "we regard the ethics committee as a necessary tool in our democracy and know that it will contribute significantly to good governance."
Mayathula-Khoza says the City wants to avoid situations "where council gives tenders for instance to companies in which councillors might have interests".
"Under no circumstances, for example, can the executive mayor, the speaker, the chief whip or any member of the Mayoral Committee have employment other than by the City of Johannesburg, as they are all full-time councillors," Mayathula-Khoza warns.
However, other councillors are free to own shops, companies and earn an income separate from council "only as long as they declare any such interests".
