Achieving Exemplary Administration Through Ethics

ETHICS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ACHIEVING AN EXEMPLARY ADMINISTRATION

INTRODUCTION Being the unfortunate person I was asked / volunteered / dragooned into discussing the way ethical conduct contributes to good administration within the context of: - Compliance to the legal framework ; - Replicating good practices to ensure effective service delivery I had to ask myself whether we do understand what is meant by ethics and their relevance after I read a report filed by Andisiwe Makinana in the City Press on 2017-09-10 05:59 that was titled [We don t want no ethics what-what ]. An ANC MP questioned why the committee was responding to the former public protector s recommendations regarding the executive ethics what- what The truth is unless one understands and internalise ethics, they can be reduced to ethics what-what .

ETHICS I will draw your attention to the distinction between Good Conduct as prescribed by the law (Compliance) and ethical conduct. Compliance with the legal framework does not mean that one is acting with good intent. I am sure you are familiar with the concept of malicious compliance. Unfortunately most of us do malicious compliance when it comes to Supply Chain Practices; like issuing an advert for a construction contract on 15 December 2017 with a compulsory site inspection on 21 December 2017. Compliance with the legal framework does not necessarily result in ethical conduct by officials. [LIKE OUR MARRIAGE VOWS] It may be necessary, but it is not good enough

ETHICS I like the definition of Ethics that takes into consideration the following : Ethics can be seen as the principal values that guide behaviour in respect of what is right, what is good and what is proper; Ethics are also the standards which help to guide us in achieving that which is right, good and proper. It is then easy to put this into application in our professional environment by thinking of the values and the standards we have to abide by

ETHICS I can therefore state that ethics occupy that area in our Organizations between the Policy and the Individual. We know that South Africa is a Legal Entity brought into existence by the Constitution. All government Departments, Municipalities and Entities can only act in terms of the law. There are Laws that are supported by Regulations and Practice Notes. These are further reduced into Policies and supplemented by Standard Operating Procedures. Why then should we concern ourselves about what is right, good and proper; when all is set out by the law? It is because all those Policies and Procedures backed up by Laws and Regulations cannot deal with what is humanly possible, it is left up to the individual who implements those policies to make ethical judgements with regard to implementation of laws and policies

OBJECTIVES AS A GUIDE How then does one make those decisions that are ethical? The guiding principle is that such decisions must be made in the interest of achieving the goal of the Organization. With regard to Municipalities Section 195 (1) of the Constitution, provides that Public administration must be governed by the democratic values and principles enshrined in the Constitution, including a high standard of professional ethics . Those decisions must be made towards achieving the objects of the Local Government as set out in Section 152 (1) of The Constitution. This is further contained in Section 4 (2) and section 6 of the Municipal Systems Act.

PRINCIPLES AS A GUIDE In addition to the objectives, one need to keep in mind the principles that underlie an ethical decision. The following have been put forward: Accountability Serving the needs of the Community credibility and integrity Transparency Honesty, i.e. eradication of corruption Fairness to all Elimination of personal gain and self interest Performance of functions and duties in an acceptable manner Prevention of misuse of Organizational property

PRINCIPLES AS A GUIDE These principles are applicable universally. Properly followed one would not have problems in achieving service delivery goals and sustaining those goals over a long term. Achieving the SERVICE DELIVERY GOALS is more important than being concerned with a Clean Audit Goals, I consider that to be part of the Malicious Compliance that WE have perfected in our organizations.

ETHICAL LAPSES What can go wrong or has gone wrong with our Ethical Decision making? KPMG There are two levels of Ethical Lapses that occurs in this instance, it is important to note that they are both Fatal to the Reputation of the Company, unlike government institution there is a possibility of the company closing: The level of Risk involved in taking on a client or an assignment. This happens when the senior managers accepts an assignment that compromises the company. Sometimes you realize the risk after accepting the assignment. The money makes it difficult to walk away. The internal processes that ignore ethical principles and focus on compliance for its own sake. When KPMG issued a report with conclusions that are later withdrawn. It tells us that the Quality Assurance Process in the organization ignored what is good, right and proper for a Professional. The Professional Ethics had failed. The next question to ask is why then did SizweNtsalubaGobodo issue a Clean Audit Report, when it was clear that there are problems with Irregular Expenditure ? Is it Ethics or incompetence? There are hard questions need to be asked of these companies. No, you need to ask those questions of all your Service Providers, especially those offering Professional Services.

ETHICAL LAPSES Unethical Conduct is not limited to Service Providers It starts or ends with Government Departments, Municipalities and Entities. Remember, in this formulation the money is with the Government. MP s / Councilors thinking that it is their time to eat . Some with their own companies, their spouse s companies and family members. Other as facilitators for contractors to get contracts. Is their conduct good, right and proper for ensuring good service delivery? The answer to that is No. It is therefore necessary that they also see themselves as contributing towards the good administration of the Organization. (If you want to eat ask me how you can do that after the presentation) Senior Managers, Giving Juniors mandates or insisting on the appointment of a particular contractor does not add to good administrative practices in your Organization. It is setting the tone for unethical conduct and you should not be surprised when it is replicated. Unfortunately, it is easy to replicate

ETHICAL LAPSES All other officials; General Workers, Professionals, Admin workers, Supervisors get the tone from the top. Whatever is done by the senior managers that is in breach of the Code of Conduct for Officials get to be known by all other staff members: Appointing Family and Lovers as employees Starting a Relationship at work and giving the lover undue benefits Appointing your family, lovers and friends as Service Providers Getting paid by Service Providers or receiving gifts from Service Providers All these instances and more are good examples of unethical conduct and we do not want that. All that can be stopped if at all times we act in the interest of the Organization, towards achieving the goals set in the Constitution and other acts. In truth it is not the instances mentioned that are in themselves problematic, it is the consequences of such decisions that undermines service delivery.

ETHICAL LAPSES When you appoint unqualified family, friends, lovers and comrades what do you expect? That they will quickly become experts in what they are appointed for? That the qualified Junior employee you have overlooked will be very happy that you have appointed an incompetent person to be their Manager? That there will be service delivery? Sleeping with your juniors may be good for your ego but bad for service delivery. How can there be two areas of service delivery by one person? It causes conflict amongst staff and undermines proper management. I am prejudiced, whenever I find Senior Managers in an Organization being under-qualified. I already know that the quality of their decisions will be doubtful. I don t expect them to solve problems systematically (they will be busy everyday with ad hoc solutions)

ETHICAL LAPSES By way of an example: The Project Manager is identified and is then made responsible for the Project; A contract to build a clinic is advertised, we know that all those Budgeting and BSC processes had to be complied with A number of Politicians approach the Accounting Officer, Chief Financial Officer, SCM Manager and the Project Manager to introduce Bidders; The Bid is awarded (lets not question how the Bidder was selected) The Bid Price was R20 Million The Politician expect to be paid, usually R500 000.00 (it s the current going price for Politicians) The Accounting Officer want his/her R2 Million (at the rate of 10%) The CFO is expecting his/her R2 Million (they also talk 10%) The SCM head wants his/her R1 million, as agreed The actual cost of the building is R16 Million and R4 Million profit.

ETHICAL LAPSES The bidder takes the R4 million profit before the start of the contract, after paying all those miscellaneous fees. Now there is only R10.5 Million to build the Clinic. You either increase the budget through variations or you cancel the contract In this instance, we all know what happens. The budget will be increased, otherwise people start talking. The problem is how were decisions made? Talking to Suppliers before the awarding of the contract makes it difficult to act in the interest of your Organization Ensuring that a particular service provider was appointed puts your self interest ahead of Service Delivery Expecting to be paid, for appointing a particular contract can not be mistaken as ethical.

SUSTAINING ETHICAL DECISIONS Remember, we are only concerned with ETHICAL decisions where Policies and Laws are not adequate. Bad managers creates the space in every process to ensure that decisions that are not right, good and proper are taken. This makes the Organization very weak in producing good administration. You get countless irregular expenditures . This may be good for the officials as individuals; but not good for efficient and effective service delivery. I have come seen roads that are unfinished or finished at three times the budget; I have dealt with buildings that were budgeted at R10 Million but the final payment was at R50 Million; I have seen Professional Services that are delivered with a five (5) page report for R25 Million Although following the legal framework would have prevented this, the managers exercised their discretion that is not good

SUSTAINING ETHICAL DECISIONS How then do we ensure that we have officials who go beyond the petty personal interest and start acting in the interest of all in the Organization? I always thought of Oliver Reginald Tambo as a Hero of South Africa because of the following; there were three reasons that motivated people to go into exile (a) personal interest in wanting to study, (b) the spirit of freedom and wanting to fight to achieve freedom and (c) being a wanted criminal and wanting to avoid capture by the Police. All these people were made to look at one goal and focus on it with OR at the Head. We never questioned the ethics of the freedom fighters as a group, but individuals were always suspect.

SUSTAINING ETHICAL DECISIONS That is where our organizations need to be. A department / municipality / entity should not be suspect, but the individual who is suspect can be dealt with. HOW DO WE DO THAT: 1. The Accounting Officer must be familiar with all the operations of the organization. The Accounting officer should Read all the Policies in the Organization. If possible there must be Charts of processes so that he/she knows what need to be done; Suitably Qualified, experienced and motivated employees must be appointed in the right positions. All are to be treated as professionals. When we talk of ethics at all levels of the organization we should not have managers saying ethics what-what ; Everyone need to know their purpose and role in the Organization (MP / Councilor / Official / Service Provider). This can be reinforced by good Management Practices and proper communication. 2. 3.

SUSTAINING ETHICAL DECISIONS When the structures are functioning properly, the space for making ethical decisions is very small and can be properly managed as and when it comes up. I always say to Accounting officers You must be ruthless when appointing Senior Managers, look for the best and ensure that they are free to implement the programs of the Organization; but make sure that you manage them with an iron fist . A vibrant Senior Management Team always achieve the set outcomes and if the team is properly supported by the Politicians, all benefit over a very long period. It s the mechanics of ethical decision making that if done correct can be replicated and reproduced over a longer period for sustainable Service Delivery.