CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.4 Recommendations 119
There are several measures, which can be adopted to promote ethical leadership. Some of the main measures, which can be embraced, include the following:
6.4.1 Creation of an ethical framework
The Matjhabeng Local Municipality should put in place an ethical framework, which should guide the ethical behaviours of their employees, right from the top leadership of the organization to the employees at the lower levels of the organization. An ethical framework generally refers to a set of codes, which guides the behaviour of individuals. Ethics are key to individuals distinguishing what is right from what is wrong.
Having in place an ethical framework will guide the behaviour of the top managers at the municipality. Besides, it will play a huge role in creating a climate in which there is integrity, as well as excellence.
These are some of the main aspects of ethical leadership. Having in place an ethical framework will also play a role in minimizing subjective and inconsistent management standards. It will explicitly spell out the rights, as well as the responsibilities of the top leaders within the municipality. This will guard against capricious, as well as preferential treatment of the staff.
120 6.4.2 Ethical Leadership Charter
It is recommended that the Matjhabeng Local Municipality should develop and adopt the ethical leadership charter to ensure that all the leaders commit to an adherence to ethical leadership. This will serve as a code of good practice for all leaders of the municipality and the community.
6.4.3 Implementing the Integrity management framework in the Matjhabeng Local Municipality
The implementation of the integrity management framework that has been designed by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs establishing a policy of no tolerance for unethical conduct by the Matjhabeng Local Municipality should be done without delay. This will ensure that the integrity climate is strengthened to enhance compliance in the institution and provide consistency in the application of the framework.
6.4.4 Ethical Leadership Legislation
The enforcement of all legislative prescripts dealing with corruption and all other unethical conducts should be fast-tracked and a monitoring mechanism should be put in place.
Council should monitor the implementation of the new legislation. This should be conducted on a regular quarterly basis and should be reported via the Audit Committee of the Matjhabeng Local Municipality.
6.4.5 Policy Universe
The municipality should design and put in place the policies that promote and sustain ethical leadership, with council approving those policies. This will ensure that these policies translate into municipal regulations that should be adhered to. The policies will be effective only if council takes corrective measures against those violating the policy.
6.4.6 Leadership vetting and clearance
All leaders in the municipality should undergo security vetting to ensure their suitability to senior positions. Screening the professional history and backgrounds of all municipal leaders will ensure that the Matjhabeng Local Municipality will develop profiles for all its
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leaders. These should also include assessments of the personalities, integrity, emotional intelligence and competence of the leaders.
6.4.7 Leadership Lifestyle Audit
The municipality should conduct the lifestyle audits for all its officials to assess their assets portfolio and monetary affairs and further establish whether they have any other sources of income that have not been declared to the Municipality. This will help to ensure that the integrity of the leaders is validated. There should also be checks to ensure there are not leaders living beyond their means or ones with questionable and unexplained wealth even though some of their sources of income have not been declared in the Matjhabeng Local Municipality.
6.4.8 Professional registration of municipal leaders
All municipal officials should be registered with the relevant professional body to ensure adherence to the laid down code of conduct and ethical behaviour. This should assist the municipality to monitor the degree adherence to the relevant code of ethics. It is a fact that all categories of professional employees have a professional body they could belong to; but some deliberately choose not to belong in order to avoid being censured.
6.4.9 Governance Structures reconfiguration
The municipality should establish an additional ethics committee reporting to council on matters of ethical leadership and ethics in general. The council should then assess these reports and recommendations ensure their adoption and implementation. The committee should be comprised of independent members that are drawn from diverse fields with different knowledge streams.
6.4.10 Training and awareness on ethical leadership
Training on ethical leadership is another major initiative, which ought to be undertaken to encourage ethical leadership within the organization. Leadership training can be highly beneficial as it helps in implementing the most appropriate leadership style for organizations. It is worth pointing out that there are several leadership styles, all with their
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own advantages and disadvantages. Effective leadership training can help individual leaders within the municipality to develop their own personal ethical leadership style.
Ethical leadership training will help the top managers and the other employees within the municipality to learn more about ethical leadership, the characteristics of ethical leaders, and the benefits, associated with ethical leadership. The main traits which the ethical leader should be able to learn and acquire about this leadership dimension include openness and transparency, open communication, honesty and being truthful in their dealings.
6.4.11 Municipal Ethical Leadership Dialogue
The municipality should convene the ethical summits once a year to gather inputs from different sections and stakeholders in the municipality. The summits could also make recommendations to council. When council had adopted these recommendations and declarations, the implementation plan should be developed, adopted and monitored.
6.4.12 Municipal Ombudsman
Matjhabeng Local Municipality should adopt the international trend of establishing a municipal ombudsman. This will be the body with a qualified and independent person who will investigate all allegations of wrongdoing and impropriety by the Matjhabeng Local Municipality and its officials. The ombudsman will make recommendations to council in respect of corrective actions that should be undertaken to deal with all complaints. The remedial actions laid down by the Municipal Ombudsman should be binding and it should be an offence not to implement them.
6.4.13 Municipal Hotline
The municipality should establish a hotline wherein people are able to anonymously report all instances of unethical conduct against anyone. This hotline will be managed by an independent person who is not attached to the municipality and who will protect the identity of all persons. This will ensure effective reporting of wrongdoing.
123 6.4.14 Reporting
The provision of reports to council on ethical conduct should be mandatory to council and council should discuss them. The reports should indicate the trends and the threats the municipality is facing due to unethical conduct. These reports should be submitted to the provincial Treasury department for support and possible intervention. Ethical leadership conditions should also be in the performance agreement of all managers and leaders of the municipality with consequence management actions outlined.