Assessing the effectiveness of ethical codes at a local government institution

Abstract

Local Government Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, Chapter 12, Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 outlines the Code of Conduct for councilors and employees, and these Code of Conduct applies to every member of a municipal council. Local Government Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, Schedule 5 similarly outlines the Code of Conduct for municipal councilors and its aim is to create an environment that is rich in moral and ethical values and behavior. The study is intended to assess the effectiveness of ethical codes within local government as a tool to promote good governance, accountability, ensure the delivery of services to the communities and increases the probability that Municipal Officials and Councilors will behave in a certain manner. The study quantitatively and qualitatively assesses how the ethical codes are implemented and enforced within local government. The assessment findings revealed that the code is a uniform set of ethical guidelines and applications throughout local government. It is also clear that codes of conduct have been drafted to be as comprehensive as possible, but they do not provide a detailed standard of conduct and not supported by ethics related policies therefore institutionalization of the code remains a challenge in a Local government environment. Therefore, these challenges have made Local Government ethos to be a “fairytale” and a failure to deliver services to the communities and the persistent fraud and corruption in Local Government has continued damage the reputation of environment and service quality. The study recommends a properly institutionalized of code of conduct to be developed for guiding the municipality’s ethics performance.