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Reception of a code of conduct at the Capricorn District Municipality in the Limpopo Province

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dc.contributor.author Disoloane, Victoria Patronella Pholoso
dc.date.accessioned 2012-06-27T11:18:56Z
dc.date.available 2012-06-27T11:18:56Z
dc.date.issued 2012-02
dc.identifier.citation Disoloane, Victoria Patronella Pholoso (2012) Reception of a code of conduct at the Capricorn District Municipality in the Limpopo Province, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5897> en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5897
dc.description.abstract This study was encouraged by the fact that the theoretical terrain of ethics in public administration and management posits that, despite the existence of a code of conduct that regulates the conduct of municipal functionaries and councillors at local government sphere, the ethics in practice in general are still illusive. All this revolves around the main guiding research objective for this study which was to examine the reception of a code of conduct by municipal functionaries and councillors at the Capricorn District Municipality in the Limpopo Province. In exploring the main question of this study, the researcher developed an understanding of the concept ethics in Public Administration by selecting ethics theories namely: consequentialism, deontology and virtue theories. From the lesson learnt, it is evident that throwing around charges about which theory is truly ethical and which one should be followed or should guide municipal functionaries and councillors in making policy decisions is pointless. There is no ethical system which appeals to all people, or even to the same person in different situations. It is undoubtedly the case that consequentialists, deontologists and those who stand by virtue theories can each be sincere in believing their system embodies goodness and morality. The formulation of the Code of Conduct for the South African local government indicates the commitment of the South African government to enhancing ethical conduct. This Code contains a uniform set of ethical guidelines and applications for use throughout local government. It is also clear that the Code of Conduct has been drafted so as to be as clear as possible, but a detailed standard of conduct and disciplinary measures are not provided. This is a great challenge as it poses concerns about the accountability of municipal functionaries and councillors, and about how disciplinary measures on unethical conduct of politicians and officials should be handled. Chapter 3 forms an understanding of how culture, religion and language have ethical significance for community and tradition particularly when municipal functionaries and councillors make decisions. The promotion of an appropriate local government culture posits that, in order for a municipal manager and a mayor to make better decisions, they must take the need to understand the diversity of the local government into consideration. The most important point to be drawn from chapter 4 is that, besides legal instructions, the nature and influence of human behaviour through leadership and ethics infrastructure such as appointing an ethics officer and using whistle blowing as a system to enhance ethical conduct is important. In outlining the statutory and regulatory framework that directs public officials and politicians’ ethical conduct in South Africa, it was identified that South Africa is highly conscious of differences between individuals; therefore it is unlikely that legislation and current initiatives will suffice to enforce ethical behaviour among public officials, councillors and municipal functionaries. Another finding of this study is that the only official document available as the Code of Conduct for local government can be found in the Local Government Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 in Schedule 1 and 2, and also in the Local Government Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998 in Schedule 5. This finding is an indicative that South African local government does not have an official Code of Conduct as a separate document for ethical conduct. Following this finding, the recommendation is therefore that a separate document should be designed, formulated and emphasised. en
dc.format.extent 1 online resource (xix, 330 leaves)
dc.language.iso en en
dc.rights University of South Africa
dc.subject Code of conduct en
dc.subject Ethics en
dc.subject Ethical conduct en
dc.subject Ethical dilemma en
dc.subject Deontology en
dc.subject Accountability en
dc.subject Capricorn District Municipality en
dc.subject Unethical behaviour en
dc.subject Consequentialism en
dc.subject Virtue en
dc.subject Culture en
dc.subject Religion en
dc.subject Values en
dc.subject Limpopo Province en
dc.subject.ddc 172.20968256
dc.subject.lcsh Ethics -- South Africa -- Capricorn District Municipality en
dc.subject.lcsh Civil service ethics -- South Africa -- Capricorn District Municipality en
dc.subject.lcsh Political ethics -- South Africa -- Capricorn District Municipality en
dc.title Reception of a code of conduct at the Capricorn District Municipality in the Limpopo Province en
dc.type Thesis en
dc.description.department Public Administration and Management
dc.description.degree D. Litt. et Phil. (Public Administration)


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