Rule 52(A) of Directions by the Speaker might sound like inconsequential legalese. It is not. It states that members of a parliamentary committee who have a “personal, pecuniary or direct interest” in any matter to be considered before that committee must disclose their interest. It is this rule that is being invoked by the panel chief of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings in asking that members

of Parliament on a PSU panel disclose their business interests. Given the dangers to which a conflict of interest can lead, this is a welcome development. That the committee in question deals with public undertakings is doubly important. Government control has led to a spoils system where PSUs are milked and sought to be influenced to benefit associates.

In a perverse way, this is one of the biggest stumbling blocks in privatising these PSUs — a carefully designed system of patronage will then collapse.

Requiring that MPs on PSU panels disclose their business interests is necessary, but the principle should be more widely enforced in Parliament. In recent years, a sense of disquiet has been expressed over the presence in Parliament of businesspersons as well as politicians with myriad business interests. As a recent controversy attests, this can sometimes invite demands that these persons be kept away from the legislature. This is neither feasible, nor is it advisable. Legislatures benefit from the variety of backgrounds and interests of MPs. What is important, however, is that for this diversity to truly deepen parliamentary debate, oversight procedures and the deliberations of parliamentary committees, there must be complete transparency.

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