Declaration of Interests by South African Ambassadors, Process followed to Review the Declarations; and the Authority in Charge of overseeing the Process

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO: 1174 (NW1367E)

PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 12-2012 OF 11 MAY 2012

Mr I O Davidson (DA) to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation:

1. Whether all South African ambassadors are required to declare their interest; if not; if so,(a) how frequently do they declare their interest,(b)what are the details of the process that is followed to review the declarations and (c) who is the authority in charge of overseeing the process;
   
   
2. What are the detail of the process that must be followed when it is found upon review of such declarations that a conflict of interest exist?

REPLY

1. (a) All SMS members (including South African ambassadors) are required to declare their financial interest annually as at 31 March of the particular year. This is done in line with Chapter 3 of the Public Service Regulations, 2001 as amended.
   
   

   (b) A communication is annually issued to the Department requesting SMS members to submit their Financial Disclosure forms. Once the forms are received it is checked for correctness and submitted to the Ministry for signature. Upon receipt of the Ministerial signed forms, the forms are submitted to the Public Service Commission.

   (c) The Director: Human Resources Administration (Ms A Du Plessis) oversees the process.

2. In terms of Chapter 3(G), the Public Service Commission is responsible to scrutinise such declarations.

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