Financial disclosure requirements in South Africa 2004-2008

To control potential conflicts of interest and ensure greater accountability many democracies, like South Africa, have introduced financial disclosure regulations, which set obligations on elected public officials to publicly declare their personal financial and non-financial interests. By making this information publicly available the conduct of public officials is made more transparent, thereby allowing democratic institutions and citizens to hold politicians accountable. Drawing strongly on empirical data, the paper examines and evaluates the various aspects of the implementation process of financial disclosure for South Africa's elected officials. These include the scope and content of disclosure requirements, compliance by elected officials, institutional support and capacity for disclosure, monitoring and oversight mechanisms and public access to information. The paper is a product of a three-year research project undertaken by the ISS Corruption and Governance Programme.