17 national departments missed financial disclosure deadline

Seventeen national government departments failed to submit financial disclosure forms to the Public Service Commission before the deadline in 2012, the PSC said on Monday.

The disclosure forms for the 2011/2012 financial year needed to be submitted by May 31, 2012, the PSC said in a statement.

The forms were part of the PSC's monitoring of conflicts of interest in the public service and needed to be submitted annually.

The PSC said the 17 national departments that failed to meet the deadline included the departments of agriculture, communications, defence, labour, rural development, state security, and public service and administration.

"The PSC found that of the overall compliance rate as at May 31, 2012, of 75%, national departments were 67% compliant and provincial departments were 85% compliant."

While there had been an overall improvement in timely submissions the PSC considered nothing less than 100 percent compliance as satisfactory.

Only the provincial departments in the Northern Cape and the Western Cape achieved a 100 percent compliance rate by the due date.

In total, 14 provincial departments -- eight in North West, four in the Free State, and two in KwaZulu-Natal -- failed to submit disclosure forms in time.

"These departments failed to comply with the framework despite the efforts taken by the PSC to remind executive authorities to submit copies of the forms..." the PSC said.

The executive authorities were also warned that members of the senior management service (SMS) could face disciplinary action if they failed to submit the forms, in terms of the disciplinary code and procedures contained in the SMS Handbook.