Annual Declaration of Interests 2023

Dear colleagues

As a requirement of the Higher Education Act, all University of Cape Town (UCT) staff members and members of university committees must make a full annual declaration of their financial interests and fiduciary roles and those of their immediate family members.

This is applicable to all staff members irrespective of their roles or positions, and is a critical part of the university’s governance, risk and compliance management system.

Staff must verify, update and submit the declaration of interest form on an annual basis even if they have nothing to declare or no changes to make to the recorded declaration from the preceding year’s submission.

The submission has been made easier, quicker and more convenient following the digitisation of the process in 2021. All the information from a staff member’s most recent submission gets pre-populated on a personalised digital form, which can be changed, deleted or, where there are no changes, left as is and just confirmed. The process is now smooth and takes only a few minutes and a few clicks.

Please submit your form by Friday, 24 February 2023.

Staff members are also required to update their submission at any point during the year whenever circumstances which require submission of this information change – this can be done numerous times over the year whenever required.

Once you have completed and submitted the digital form, you will receive an email confirming the submission, with your line manager getting a separate email stating that a declaration has been submitted. Your line manager and any person who has a verifiable interest in the submission will be able to review the submission.

As part of the automated process, line managers will receive weekly notifications with a link to a high-level compliance report of outstanding submissions to enable them to facilitate the completion of outstanding submissions from the staff reporting to them.

Staff who have not submitted their declaration will receive regular reminders.

The information is collected to ensure that the university complies with the contract of employment and the Conflict of Interest policy. For more information about how the university uses personal information, please refer to the UCT statements on the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).

• Access the personalised declaration form through the UCT Service Now platform.
• View frequently asked questions about conflict of interest.

If you do not have the technology (PC, laptop or mobile device) to access the form, please contact your line manager for assistance. Managers are asked to convey the above message to those who may not have access to this communication and to assist staff members to comply.

If you experience technical difficulties in accessing the form, please contact ICTS for assistance.

We urge staff members to make their digital submission by the deadline and, in this regard, we appreciate colleagues’ cooperation in complying with this important governance requirement.

Sincerely

Dr Reno Morar
Chief Operating Officer