Ethics codes are meaningless if not enforced

THE draft amendments to the Executive Ethics Code now before Parliament may seem like routine housekeeping, but they touch on a matter that has repeatedly unsettled public confidence in the government: the relationship between political office and private benefit.

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South Africans have grown accustomed to learning about undeclared gifts and opaque campaign funding only after the fact, usually when a complaint has been lodged or a fine imposed. It is in that context that the proposed tightening of disclosure requirements, particularly around donations linked to internal party leadership contests, should be assessed. Leadership races within political parties are not internal affairs in any narrow sense. They often determine who will occupy the highest offices in the country. Financial support provided during those contests d