Reimagining the Nexus of Good Governance through Professionalizing Ethical Leadership: A Perspective on the Affairs of Local Government

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21886427

Karabo Mokganya, John Ntsaupe Molepo, Hlengiwe Khoza, and Lechaba Mathibela (Department of Public Affairs, Faculty of Humanities, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa)

As we all witness the ongoing media coverage of corruption scandals in South Africa and other African countries, there is indeed and increase sense of anxiety among the public relating to the abuse of state resources, bad leadership, and the inability to account for the use of public money. These challenges have severely undermined the taxpayer’s faith, especially at the local government level, which is the closest government to the people. The systemic failings have been largely caused by public officials who are entrusted with the responsibility to govern. This study mirrors the professionalisation need for ethical leadership in the public sector. It is against this context that a viable method to overcome governance gaps for improved service delivery. The study focuses on the realm of local government, where service delivery protests and administrative issues are most prominent. This study is conceptual in nature as it involves an assessment of the synthesis of prior literature on the reasons for service delivery failures from the perspective of scholars and practitioners. This paper argues that ethical leadership is an important contributor to good governance have not been given enough attention. The findings of this article have demonstrated that public officials are not consistently adhering to ethical standards in the execution of their duties, often neglected. The study, therefore, contends that the need to professionalize ethical leadership through ethical standards, training, and accountability mechanisms can be revolutionary in boosting good practices for effective public service delivery in South African local government.