Corporate Governance Compliance within South African Regulatory Agencies : towards an Implementation Framework

Abstract

Worldwide, there is a growing trend towards agencification as a favoured public service delivery model by governments. Regulatory agencies, in particular, are established with autonomous authority to regulate a specialised public function. The main objective of the study was to assess the extent of compliance with good corporate governance standards by regulatory agencies in the discharge of their regulatory function. An inductive approach was employed to explore the corporate governance phenomenon, using the interpretivism philosophical underpinnings to understand levels of non-compliance. Using the in-depth interview method, the study found that unprecedented levels of non-compliance to corporate governance by regulatory agencies are caused by structurally based impediments as well as those influenced by human behavioural aspects. Applying the underlying African ontological and philosophical underpinnings, the study conceptualised a new theoretical framework known as Ubuntu as an expansion of the stakeholder theory. Moreover, the study introduced a corporate governance compliance framework to be used as a guiding instrument in the implementation of good corporate governance practices and principles within regulatory agencies in particular and public entities in general.