Question

1. Identify and discuss any five (5) democratic values of public administration
that in your view are not properly addressed by the municipality.

2. Define the concept ‘ethics’ and list any five (5) principles to manage ethical
challenges that the municipality must attend to.
3. List the five (5) forms of misconduct and unethical behaviour common to
employees in the municipality.
4. There are various service delivery challenges in the municipality, one of those
include the fact that clients or citizens are not treated well. Define ‘Batho pele’ and recommend the application of only the four pillars of Batho Pele Revitalisation Strategy of 2001 to the municipality.

Answer 1

1. Democratic values of public administration:

   To practice transparency in public administration is to ensure citizens the availability of information which is deemed public. This should be an organizational goal, and is to be taken into account when conducting all public business regardless of one’s job title. If the goal of an organization is to serve the citizens to the best of their ability, then avoiding or failing to achieve transparency would cause significant damage to the relationship between them and the people they are aiming to serve.

   Accountability is to adhere to a standard of professionalism in the workplace. Additionally, it means to understand that our professional activities are being funded by the citizens of this country. As such, public employees are held responsible by citizens for upholding the mission of their organization. Accountability is an important aspect of the functionality of any organization public or private. Essentially, it reminds individuals that while they are employed by a professional organization they will be held liable for their actions.

   Each public administrator is asked to adhere to a code of ethics. In order to function properly as an organization, the administrator must be held to a high degree of ethical standards. Specifically, ethics calls for administrators to display integrity, and be mindful of laws and regulations. Furthermore, this must be accomplished in order to successfully practice and promote transparency of government. Unfortunately, the importance of ethics in government is usually shown when public officials violate laws or regulations. Because of these instances, we are constantly reminded of the importance of ethics in public administration.

   Professionalism is an important core value when considering the prestigious nature of our positions in the field of public administration. In essence, administrators are hired to be visionaries, in addition to being stewards of public funds and information. To be professional is to understand the importance of our jobs in the public sector, to have respect for ourselves and the organizations that we represent, and to act accordingly. Each individual is to deal with issues, whether positive or negative, in a mild and straightforward manner whenever possible. Without professionalism in public administration, the overall perception of our work and our organizations would undoubtedly falter.

   Finally, there are few organizations in the public sector that are able to flourish without proper leadership. Practicing leadership is setting an example of professionalism for staff members and possessing the motivation to achieve organizational goals. In doing so, leaders must have the ability to recognize the talents of individuals and allow those talents to be utilized for the betterment of the organization. Admittedly, leadership can become a balancing act between becoming an active team member and taking charge of overall operations. As a leader, it is of utmost importance to stay connected with staff members, but to act in a managerial role when called upon.

2. The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.Ethics seeks to resolve questions of human morality by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime.

Principles to manage ethical challenges in the municipality:

• Promoting government action to maintain high standards of conduct and counter corruption in the public sector.
• Ethical standards should be reflected in the legal framework
• Impartial advice can help create an environment in which public servants are more willing to confront and resolve ethical tensions and problems
• Public servants need to know what their rights and obligations are in terms of exposing actual or suspected wrongdoing within the public service.

3. Forms of misconduct and unethical behaviour common to employees in the municipality:

• Bribery, graft, patronage, nepotism and influence peddling
• Conflict of interest, including activities such as making financial transactions for personal advantage, and accepting outside employment during tenure in government without declaring this
• Misuse of inside knowledge, for example, through acceptance of a business appointment after retirement or resignation
• Accepting improper gifts and entertainment
• The use and abuse of official and confidential information for private purposes.

4. Batho Pele, a Sesotho word, which means “People First”, is an initiative that was launched in 1997 to transform the Public Service at all levels. Batho Pele was launched because democratic South Africa inherited a Public Service that was not people-friendly and lacked the skills and attitudes to meet the developmental challenges facing the country. It is a belief set that is used to improve service delivery in the public service.

The Batho Pele Revitalisation Strategy represents a framework within which efforts to intensify the Batho Pele campaign could be structured. It is supported by four pillars, namely:

• Re-engineering and improving the back-office operations of government;
• Re-engineering and improving the front-office operations of government;
• Internal communication; and
• External communication.

Re-engineering and improving the back-office operations of government This includes efforts to improve systems, work processes and institutional structures, which collectively make service delivery possible. Typical examples of re-engineering and improving back-office operations are:

introducing effective performance management systems;

revising organisational structures to support work objectives;

re-organising work processes to use staff optimally and minimise inefficiencies;

utilising appropriate forms of technology; and improving conditions of service.

Back-office operations often constitute the core of the machinery of service delivery. If they are ineffective or poor, the quality of services experienced by consumers is compromised. Although the consumer generally does not see these operations and is largely unaware of them, they are key to shaping and sustaining the nature and extent of the services citizens eventually receive. They represent the macro organisational issues that ultimately make service delivery improvement possible.

Re-engineering and improving the front-office operations of government This is the actual interface between the public service and citizens. This is the “face” of government citizens see and very largely determines their opinions of government. Typical examples of these operations are:

accessing health services at a clinic or hospital;

obtaining passports, birth certificates or ID documents;

applying for a housing subsidy; and

admitting children to school and interacting with teachers and school authorities.

These operations are very visible and are mostly supported by backoffice operations.

Internal communication This involves efforts to promote communication within government about service delivery transformation and about the critical role that public servants play in the lives of citizens. The purpose of internal communication is to instil a greater sense of pride and even patriotism in public servants and to lift their morale. Good internal communication can build a strong organisational culture of customer service, promote a sense of belonging and a common purpose and make people proud to serve their country by serving their fellow countrymen and women. External communication The purpose of external communication is to find out what end-users need and expect in terms of service delivery and, once the services have been defined, to inform them what services are available to them and what their rights and obligations are in accessing public services.

External communication is a two-way process, it involves listening to stakeholders, on the one hand and providing them with useful information, on the other. It helps to build constructive relationships that will support the process of improving service delivery.