MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Councillors and executive management of the Mossel Bay Municipality lined up today, 28 November, to sign a pledge to uphold the newly adopted Code for Ethical Leadership in Local Government.
The signing took place at the last open council meeting for the year.
The code was launched by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Thembi Nkadimeng, in March this year.
In her message of commitment, contained in the item which was served before council, Nkadimeng said the code is in line with the strategic objectives of the Local Government Anti-Corruption strategy which puts specific emphasis on ethical leadership.
“In our view, the code will contribute towards addressing some of the governance challenges at municipalities, especially the prevalence of unethical conduct by leadership at various levels.”
Prof Deon Rossouw, CEO of The Ethics Institute, said in his message that ethics is the cornerstone of safe, just, and prosperous communities. “It is therefore imperative that leaders in local government should lead with personal integrity. However, personal integrity cannot be legislated.
“It depends on the personal commitment of leaders to put the interest of the communities that they serve before their personal interests. It is our hope that this code will inspire our local government leaders to serve our local communities in the spirit intended in our constitution.”
The item before council stated the purpose of the code as giving “guidance to leaders on how to navigate those issues that have the biggest impact on ethical governance in municipalities based on the research”.
Video: Councillors and management sign the pledge
The pledge signed reads as follows:
In the spirit of ethical municipal leadership, and in the interest of the municipality and all its communities, we pledge to uphold the principles of the Code for Ethical Leadership in Local Government:
- Principle 1: To set the tone for an ethical culture
- Principle 2: To follow a community centred approach to governance
- Principle 3: To respect the boundary between the political and administrative spheres of the municipality
- Principle 4: To ensure the appointment of staff who have competence and integrity
- Principle 5: To ensure the appropriate level of competence, integrity and diversity committees and oversight structures
- Principle 6: To deal fairly and decisively with ethics transgressions and poor performance
- Principle 7: To engage respectfully and constructively with other leaders
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