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DoJ: Draft Executive Members’ Ethics Amendment Bill
- 14 September 2026
- Ethics and Professionalism
- South African Accounting Academy
Summary:
The Department of Justice & Constitutional Development published a Draft Executive Members’ Ethics Amendment Bill to strengthen oversight and transparency for high-ranking government officials, for public comments.
Article:
The bill proposes key changes to the 1998 Executive Members’ Ethics Act applies to Cabinet members, deputy ministers and the members of each provincial executive council – governing their conduct in the best interests of open, democratic, accountable government. To that end, the Act provides for the publication of a code of ethics intended to ensure that no executive member engages in activities likely to compromise the integrity of their office or government. The disclosure of financial interests is mandatory in that context.
Against that backdrop, among other things the draft Bill seeks to make the secretary to Cabinet and the secretary to each provincial executive council responsible for administering the applicable register of financial interests. With that in mind, a proposed new section to the principal Act prescribes each secretary’s powers, functions and obligations.
The draft Bill also:
- spells out the procedures to be followed:
- by the Public Protector when investigating and reporting on alleged code of ethics breaches and related complaints
- by the National Assembly or applicable provincial legislature’s Speaker when tabling the Public Protector’s report for consideration and debate, and
- by the executive member allegedly in breach of the code of ethics, and
- provides for a range of sanctions and penalties.
For reference, the 1998 Act can be accessed at https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a82-98.pdf
The deadline for input is 2 October 2026.
Click here to download the 12-page document:
Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:
- The Draft Executive Members’ Ethics Amendment Bill is legislation that your relevant clients must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with. If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (NOn-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
- As an auditor and independent reviewer, you need to be aware of amendments to existing acts, as gazetted.
- As an accountant, you may need to advise your clients on compliance with and recent changes to legislation.
Relevance to Your clients:
- Cabinet members, Deputy Ministers, and members of provincial Executive Councils (MECs) must adhere to the Draft Executive Members’ Ethics Amendment Bill.