Improved service delivery requires changes to the system that will enable leaders to do better
Good ethical leadership in local government is a rarity — and I have a premise about why this is the case. More recently this premise is also grounded in research, which should give it more credence.
This consistent message led us to conceptualise the Local Government Ethical Leadership Initiative. We wanted to have a national dialogue on ethical leadership at the local government level to better understand the dynamics, and then to address these through a code for ethical governance in SA local government.
But the most revealing insights came from those who are part of the system — the councillors and officials themselves. Perhaps it is best to start with the mood of the conversations. If I had to sum it up, it would be a mix of frustration and desperation. The strongest theme to emerge from the research is that the first damage to the system occurs when politicians appoint people who have political connections rather than the requisite skills and expertise to do the job.
So entrenched is the web of patronage appointments that enforcing any kind of accountability becomes extremely unlikely. Even those members of the top management team who want to take a stand can’t do so because they can relatively easily be suspended or fired by an antagonistic council. Top managers are appointed by the council on five-year contracts, which means they can also be removed by the council.
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