Effective Leadership : The Solution to End Corruption in the South African Public Sector ? (original) (raw)
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2012
G Naidoo Department of Public Administration and Management University of South Africa Corruption is recognised as a major hindrance to good governance in the South African (SA) public sector. The government has prompted the public sector to focus on anti-corruption measures as part of their mechanisms to prevent and curb corruption. Some departments have considered these controls. However, it is evident that these mechanisms are insufficient to prevent and curb corruption, due to poor governance practices, such as weakness and gaps in legislation. Furthermore, the public sector has seen that there are unethical and even toxic leaders, who exploit the loopholes in the systems and processes and seek to fulfil their personal desires at the expense of their departments. It is therefore argued that there is increasingly a need for ethical leadership in the public sector. This article therefore suggests the need for ethical leadership to prevent and curb corruption and to promote good go...
Mediterranean journal of social sciences, 2012
South Africa is a society emerging from a chequered and troubled past with a legacy ofimpairments in terms of education skills, opportunities, resentments, equality andperceptions. As in many societies, corruption is recognized as a major hindrance to goodgovernance in the public sector. The South African government has prompted the publicsector to focus on anti-corruption measures as part of their mechanisms to prevent andcurb corruption. It is evident that these mechanisms are insufficient to prevent and curbcorruption, due to poor governance practices, such as weakness and gaps in legislation.Furthermore, the public sector has seen that there are unethical and even toxic leaders,who exploit the loopholes in the systems and processes and seek to fulfil their personaldesires at the expense of their departments. It is therefore argued that there is increasinglya need for ethical leadership in the public sector. This article therefore suggests the need forethical leadership to preven...
Navigating through the political/administrative corruption conundrum: South African case studies
Corruption in the public and private spheres and entities in both South Africa and the rest of the world has generated much research and debate, eliciting many perspectives, ideas and beliefs and resulting in a number of theories. Although there is some disagreement about whether corruption threatens societies' welfare, there is some agreement on the fundamentals, regarding issues such as integrity, ethics and the dichotomy between collective and individual corruption. There is also a common thread on the direct connection between the political and administrative aspects of the phenomenon. Especially in the public sphere, the link between political and administrative leadership has direct and indirect repercussions on all aspects of public management. This implies that such relationships are an integral part of a process that, on many occasions, leads to corruption. A collaborative, cooperative and deeply moral relationship between political and administrative leadership can act as a shield against corruption at all levels of public administration. This can only occur when such a relationship is based on an ethical foundation and integrity, and on solid knowledge management, innovative and comprehensive initiatives and multi-dimensional initiatives. This article focuses on key issues in South Africa's public administration arena and the sometimes antagonistic or colluding relationships amongst political and administrative leaderships in the country in relation to corrupt practices and their processes, presenting specific cases studies of relations and involvement in corruption in municipalities as examples of the conundrum.
Koers - Bulletin for Christian Scholarship, 2021
This paper examines the relationship between morals, ethics, public administration and corruption. The argument advanced is that morals and ethics are antidotes for bureaucratic corruption in public service and administration. Currently there seems to be low ethics and morality in public service and administration in South Africa. The discussions in this paper consider the obligations under the South African National Development plan 2030, African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, the African Charter on Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration, and the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development for a corruption free and ethical public service and administration.
Corruption - New Insights [Working Title]
Corruption is a broad concept involving various acts perceived to be illegal or unethical at the very least. Corruption is informally defined as any act which unfairly or illegally influenced a decision-making process, through giving or receiving of a benefit (monetary or otherwise) to the decision-maker or another party connected to the decision-maker. South Africa (SA) is known for its well-developed framework to promote sound public administration, consisting of the Constitution, supportive legislative instruments including the Public Finance Management Act, Municipal Finance Management Act and various National Treasury Regulations and Notices. Sadly, SA is also known for high levels of fraud, corruption and collusion amongst public officials with apparently very little consequence management to date. Corporate governance was institutionalised in South Africa (SA) through the four King Reports, which have since 1994 served as cornerstones with a Code of Good Practices and Conduct...
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Local governments in South Africa have experienced leadership challenges in the democratic South Africa. Poor leadership ethics have badly contributed in the leadership challenges in the South African local government system. The objective of the study was to identify the factors that contribute in the poor leadership ethics in local government and the consequences of bad behavior by local government leadership and employees. Mixed research methodology was applied in the study. Primary data was collected through selfadministered questionnaires that were personally administered by the researchers to 10 portfolio managers, 333 Employees and interviewed 9 executive managers.The study found that the poor systems to fight against corruption and unethical activities compromise public service delivery and paint all public sector officials as corrupt people. The idea of getting into government institutions for the purposes of self-benefit is dominant amongst many people who are in governmen...
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Using data from the Human Sciences Research Council national social attitudes survey for 1999, this chapter focuses on levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with governance, as well as people’s perceptions of the government’s commitment to ensuring clean and honest government. The most significant variables are province, population group, ethno-linguistic group and income, with other variables such as gender and age providing limited insight.