Deputy Minister Nel emphasises the importance ethical leadership in local government
The Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Mr Andries Nel held a fruitful meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of The Ethics Institute (TEI), Prof Deon Rossouw today, 05 February 2019.
The meeting discussed the approach on the possibility of developing a code of ethics governance in municipalities. “Ethical leadership is important as it can lead to good governance, whilst also ensuring efficient and effective functioning municipalities”, said Deputy Minister Nel.
TEI is looking to garner support for an initiative to facilitate a national dialogue on ethical leadership in local government as envisaged in the 2016 Local Government Anti-Corruption Strategy. This project is envisaged to have a research component, numerous dialogue sessions in all provinces, and that the process will culminate in the development of a governance code that sets out the principles and practices for ethical governance in local government.
Noting the challenges in Local Government, Deputy Minister Nel committed to supporting the TEI initiative to deal with the three main challenges identified by the 2015 Public Sector Ethics Survey conducted by The Ethics Institute (TEI) in partnership with SALGA, CoGTA and the DPSA such as, i) Political interference, ii) Incompetent / unqualified people being appointed, and iii) Abuse of cadre deployment.
The TEI approach calls for an urgent need for structured conversations among municipal leaders and other role-players to systematically identify the ethical challenges as well as the structural factors that give rise to such.
To turn the situation around, there is a need for a reflection on what ethical leadership entails in municipalities, and how the local government sector could enable an environment where ethical leadership thrives. It is to this effect that The Ethics Institute, in partnership with CoGTA and SALGA, is seeking to facilitate such a National Dialogue on Ethical Leadership that culminates in a document that sets out the principles and practices for ethical governance in local government.
According to Prof Rossouw, TEI has been conducting training in municipalities, although it has been focused mainly on the administration side and not political side. He also indicated that they intend to broaden the scope and develop a programme that will assist to strengthen moral ethics and standards.
Deputy Minister Nel has committed that the department will continue to engage with TEI to ensure that the programme is implemented.
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