Conflicts of Interest
Declaration of Interest Update Cycle
A conflict-of-interest declaration is only as useful as it is current — a three-year-old declaration tells you nothing about the interests an official acquired last month.
Why Declaration Currency Matters
The Public Service Regulations and municipal codes of conduct require officials to declare financial interests and to refresh those declarations at least annually. Stale declarations are a recurring AGSA and Public Service Commission finding because they leave the entity unable to detect emerging conflicts. AuditPro Core tracks the refresh status of every declaration and the lag since each official's last update so the integrity function can chase overdue declarations before they become an audit exception.
The Numbers
AuditPro Core renders this view from your tenant's live, tamper-evident records. The figures below are illustrative sample data.
Refreshed this cycle
412
of 480
Update completion
86%
▲ 4%
Stale > 12 months
68
Never declared
9
Cumulative declarations refreshed
Update lag by directorate
| Directorate | Officials | Refreshed | Stale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Services | 92 | 88 | 4 |
| Infrastructure | 140 | 110 | 30 |
| Finance (SCM) | 76 | 70 | 6 |
Figures shown are illustrative sample data for demonstration. AuditPro Core renders these views from your own tenant's live, tamper-evident records.
The annual refresh duty
Interests change continuously, so a point-in-time declaration decays. The annual refresh obligation exists precisely because last year's declaration cannot capture this year's interests.
Lag as a risk measure
The time since an official's last update is a direct measure of blind-spot risk. The longer the lag, the larger the window in which an undeclared conflict could have arisen and influenced decisions.
Completeness over comfort
A high overall completion rate can mask a cluster of high-risk officials — SCM practitioners, delegated approvers — whose specific declarations are overdue. Risk-weighting matters more than the headline percentage.
Nil declarations still count
An official with no interests must still file a nil declaration. A missing declaration is not the same as an absence of interest, and cannot be assumed to be one.
How AuditPro Core Bridges the Gap
- Currency monitoring: each declaration's age is tracked against the annual refresh requirement so overdue ones surface automatically.
- Lag ranking: officials are sortable by time since last update, focusing the chase on the longest-standing gaps.
- Exception workflow: overdue declarations route to the official and supervisor with a documented follow-up trail.
- Audit-ready status: the refresh register exports as evidence that declaration currency was actively managed.
Key Takeaways
- Declarations decay; the annual refresh exists because last year's filing cannot capture this year's interests.
- Time since last update is a direct measure of undeclared-conflict risk.
- A high completion rate can hide overdue declarations among the highest-risk officials.
- A missing declaration is not a nil declaration and must not be assumed to be one.
See This on Your Own Data
AuditPro Core renders this dashboard from your tenant's live, tamper-evident records — every figure traceable to source.