Abstract:
This study focuses on the role of code of conduct in enhancing basic service delivery in local
government with specific reference to Mopani District Municipality. The deontological theory
will be adopted to emphasise adherence to rules regardless of consequences or motives
behind the action. The theories of virtue, deontology and teleology were selected in this study
to try to understand the concept of ethics and its relevance to answer the research questions
developed in this research. Theories are helpful in predicting and explaining phenomena, such
as why people behave the way they do. Regulatory framework, on the other hand, serves as
the fundamental basis for reasoning or action. There are various manifestations of unethical
conduct in local public administration and these manifestations include corruption, bribe,
nepotism and favouritism, fraud, poor public accountability and kickback.
South Africa is characterised by various causes of unethical conduct in local public
administration. These causes are psychological causes, deficient control and accountability,
complex legislation, inadequate procedures and manuals, deficient management and
organisation. The Batho-Pele White Paper (1997) principles identify several Batho-Pele
principles. Batho-Pele principles include redress and value for money. The study describes
various legislative and policy frameworks governing local public administration. The legislative
and policy framework include, Batho-Pele White Paper (1997), Prevention and Combating of
Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004, and the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management
Act 56 of 2003. The study adopted mixed methods approach to gain a deeper understanding
of the phenomenon being studied. Mixed methods give a voice to study participants and
ensure that study findings are grounded in participants’ experiences.
The study uses research paradigm which is guided by pragmatism. The study focuses on
pragmatic research paradigms amongst others namely post positivism, constructivist,
participatory and pragmatism. The study uses descriptive statistics and thematic analysis to
analyse data. The study describes all the processes of ethical consideration in the research
ethics having knowledge and understanding that respondent’s participation in research must
be done voluntarily without any harm. The research revealed that leadership seems to play a
more significant role in influencing the behaviour of municipal officials, than the rules or codes
of conduct of a municipality. The study recommends a properly institutionalized of code of
conduct to be developed for guiding the municipality’s ethics performance.
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Findings of the research study
The study findings revealed that majority of the respondents at 181 (95,2%) agreed that there
are adequate controls to ensure that municipal officials comply with policies and procedure in
the municipality. The study further confirms that most of the respondents at 175 (92,1%) of
the respondents agreed with the statement that the Constitution of the Republic of South
Africa, 1996 encourages the action of municipal officials to be in line with the values and
principle of public administration. Majority of the respondents at 166 (87,4%) agreed that
challenges facing local municipalities need to be evaluated to check if they are yielding desired
results. The study found that 115 (81,6%) of respondents agreed that existing code of conduct
needs to be revised. The findings revealed that mechanisms should be developed in an ethical
manner that are reflected in different ways, such as compliance to rules and laws, desisting
from fraud, theft, corruption and abuse of leadership authority. The study findings revealed
that appointing an ethics officer is one of the effective strategies for enhancing ethical conduct
in the municipality, an important mechanism that is adhered to at the Mopani district
municipalities. The findings revealed that municipal officials are aware of the manual code of
conduct in place. The researcher found that corruption is the main issue that leads to unethical
challenges confronting municipalities in enhancing basic service delivery in the municipality.
Recommendations of the research study
It was recommended that code of conduct approaches should be aimed at enhancing basic
service delivery in the municipality, the training of municipal officials should emphasize
innovativeness and the importance of values. Local Government: Municipal Systems Act,
2000 (Act 32 of 2000) stipulates that South African local government does not have an official
code of conduct as a separate document for ethical conduct. This is not conducive to ethics
being taken seriously at local government sphere. The researcher sees a need for a separate
code of conduct to be established, formulated and emphasised. It was established that political
instability, lack of skilled workforce and corruption within the municipality exacerbate poor
service delivery resulting to people’s suffering. It was recommended that municipal officials
should do what is in the best interest of the public to ensure public accountability. It was
recommended that municipal officials should act ethically all times. It was recommended that
promised standard of services should be delivered. It was recommended that there should be
plans for service delivery to avoid community protests on basic service delivery. The
researcher recommends that leaders need to be trained and encouraged to create strong
ethical cultures within the municipality.