Parliaments Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests has found Deputy President Paul Mashatile guilty of breaching the Code of Ethical Conduct and Members Interests.
This is in relation to his failure to declare a gift to his wife in the confidential part of his financial and registrable interests register, the committee said in a statement on Thursday 31 July.
Mashatile could be reprimanded, fined over ethical breachThe committee therefore resolved to recommend that the National Assembly should reprimand Mashatile and impose a fine of R10,000 on him.
Democratic Alliance DA chief whip George Michalakis laid the complaint in March this year. The gift was a diamond from alleged fraudster Louis Liebenberg.
The committee said after perusing the register, it found that Mashatile had indeed not disclosed the gift as required by the Code.
In his response to the committee, the Deputy President said he was waiting for the appraisal of the diamond to determine its value before a declaration was made. He added that he has since surrendered the diamond to the National Prosecuting Authority.
However, the committee contended that ethical behaviour required that the gift be declared, with the value disclosed at a later stage.
As a result, the committee will recommend to the National Assembly to impose a reprimand in the House and a fine of R10,000 for a first offence of a breach of the code, it said.
Michalakis welcomed the guilty finding but vowed to ask Mashatile further questions regarding the diamond and his familys relationship with Liebenberg.
There are also questions around the legality of this diamond, its nature, source and certification. These questions will be asked both to the Deputy President and the Department of Justice, he said in a statement.