STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER
DR B.S.S. DLAMINI
AT HIS DECLARATION OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES TO THE INTEGRITY COMMISSION
AT THE CABINET OFFICES
MONDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2012
It is my duty today to submit to the Integrity Commission a statement of my personal assets and liabilities at 30 June 2011.
This submission is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution which require those on a specified list of persons in leadership, including the Prime Minister, to submit such a statement every two years. In the next few days I shall be reminding my colleagues in Government and the rest of the public sector, as well as Parliament, that they are required to make submissions in a similar manner by the first day of March this year.
The Constitution is clear, in its Leadership Code of Conduct, that those persons in a position of leadership shall not engage in behaviour that compromises the integrity that they are expected to bring to their respective positions. Nor shall their activities cause corruption to take place in public affairs, or be detrimental to the welfare of the general public. It is also stated that there should be no conflict of interest.
The Constitution furthermore allows for future legislation that improves procedures and guidelines that assist in the effective enforcement of the Leadership Code of Conduct. Therefore, in order to set out the administrative procedures, guidelines and practices necessary for the implementation and enforcement of the Constitutional provisions, my Administration in 2009 drew up the Leadership Code of Conduct Bill and duly tabled it in Parliament at that time.
The Bill expands on the outline provisions of the Constitution, including defining the rules regarding gifts and other benefits in kind that leaders may accept, as well as the responsibilities relating to disclosure.
The Bill has remained with Parliament for a considerable period of time and I take this opportunity to thank His Majesty for pointing out the importance of this piece of legislation and I urge Parliamentarians to give the Bill priority in their deliberations and bring this stage of the legislative process to a speedy conclusion.
Thank you.