NARRATIVE SUMMARY

PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION ON THE REPORT BY THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION ON THE EFFICACY OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR PUBLIC SERVANTS

1. OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION

The presentation will provide a background to the need for the survey and subsequent report. It will address some of the key findings and provide an analysis of the findings. Thereafter it will

reflect on the assessment of the Code of Conduct and discuss some of the recommendations that emerged from the study.

2. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

The Code of Conduct (the Code) for public servants in South Africa was promulgated and has been in operation since 1997. The Code acts as a guideline to employees as to what is expected of them from an ethical point of view in their individual conduct, in their relationship with the public, the Legislature and Executive, and with other employees. From the onset it was envisaged that the Code would give guidance in these various focus areas, as well as promote professional ethics in the public service. However, little is known about the extent to which public servants have complied with the Code or about the attitudes and perceptions of public servants pertaining to the Code. Therefore, this study was designed to measure the uptake and impact of the Code amongst public servants.

3. THE AIM OF THE SURVEY

The aim of the survey was to –

• Measure compliance with the Code.
• Assess the efficacy of the Code by focusing on the responsibility of Heads of Department to efficiently manage their departments and to maintain discipline.
• Assess the scope and content of the Code.
• Assess best practices pertaining to codes of conduct

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology into the uptake and impact of the Code on public servants comprised of three phases. In the first phase of the research process all government employees with access to the internet were given the opportunity to complete a customized version of a tool called an Integrity Thermometer. This tool comprised a confidential online survey that measures perceived unethical conduct and the ethical climate within organizations. In the second phase of the research process officials from 27 selected departments were given the opportunity to complete hard copies of the Integrity Thermometer tool. In this phase open-ended interviews were also conducted with the Heads of the selected departments. In total, 537 responses were received from the survey. The final phase of the research process comprised a desk study on the provisions contained in the Code and the extent of its enforceability with other legal enactments.

5. KEY FINDINGS

A legal review was conducted to assess the applicability of national legislation to the scope and content of the Code. The principal finding is that the Code itself, read with the provisions of the Public Service Act (103 of 1994) provides the primary driver for its enforceability by making non-compliance with its provisions a disciplinary offence. In addition, the content of the Code clearly reflects the spirit of the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), with many of the values and principles articulated in the Constitution, in particular Chapter 10, pertaining to public administration, also reflected in the Code.

Findings from open-ended interviews

The findings reported here emanated from open-ended interviews. The interviews were mainly held with Heads of Department who participated in the survey. The findings cover general indicators as well as principles contained in the Code.

General

In general, as far as the application and utilization of the Code is concerned the percentages are well worth noting. In terms of the findings –

• Only 30% of the participating departments have supplemented the Code;
• In 80% of the participating departments, the Heads of Department have ensured that staff are acquainted with the Code; and
• The majority of the participating departments (more than 80%) have records pertaining to induction/training and self-development as well as indicators that the Code has been used as part of disciplinary cases.

Relationship with the public

Although the majority of departments have a system to monitor comments or complaints received from the public, only about fifty percent (50%) of departments monitor time elapsed before queries are solved, arguably the most important indicator from the public's point of view. However, it is encouraging to see that the majority of departments have monitoring systems in place.

Relationship amongst employees

Only about twenty five percent (25%) of departments monitor political activities hosted at the workplace. This might be one of the reasons why - in the Integrity Thermometer survey -a significant percentage of respondents either disagree or disagree strongly with the statement: "Most public servants do not abuse their positions to promote the interest of any political party or interest group". There seems to be sufficient monitoring of time taken to execute instructions, instructions not executed and the reason therefore, as well as grievances aired and the manner which they were aired. Almost forty percent (40%) of departments do not monitor productive and idle hours of staff.

Performance of duties

One hundred percent (100%) of respondents indicated that there is a system to monitor instances of fraud and corruption reported. All the components in this section scored relatively well. A total of 80% of respondents have a system to monitor conflicts of interest. Regulating access to confidential information and the distribution thereof provided the weakest score, relative to the others.

Personal conduct

In terms of personal conduct, abuse of official information once again was highlighted as the biggest area of concern, with forty percent (40%) of departments are without a system to monitor disciplinary procedures related to abuse of official information. Systems to monitor disciplinary procedures seem to be best established in the areas of alcohol abuse and gifts, while unauthorised remunerative work was identified as the second biggest area of concern in this section. (see percentages as reflected in the presentation)

Results emanating from the Integrity Thermometer (questionnaire circulated to officials)

With regards to the confidential survey results, the most important areas highlighted by respondents related to communication of the Code, the value placed on the Code by public servants and the willingness of public servants to report unacceptable behaviour:

• 8% of respondents strongly disagreed and 19% disagreed that the communication of the Code to public servants has been effective;
• 9% strongly disagreed and 18% disagreed with the statement that public servants place a high value on the Code; and
• 10% strongly disagreed and 15% disagreed with the statement that most public servants will report fraud, corruption, nepotism or any other offence to the appropriate authorities.

The types of unethical behaviour that were identified by respondents as having the highest frequency are: favouring of friends or family, failing to live up to agreements, gossiping, arriving late at work or leaving early, frequent long-distance phone calls of a personal nature and excessive photocopying for private purposes.

6. ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY

Generally speaking, the uptake of the Code has been good. The reason for this is that it has been found that in 80% of the participating departments the Heads of Department have ensured that the staff are acquainted with the Code. In addition, more than 80% of the participating departments have records pertaining to training and self-development and indicated that the Code has been used as part of disciplinary processes. This gives reason to believe that a Code of Conduct is absolutely necessary in the day-to-day administration of a department.

The findings of the survey also suggest that the Code is an important document pertaining not only to the maintenance of discipline, but also for the building of integrity systems. For example, in terms of the findings departments do have systems to monitor disciplinary procedures in place. Furthermore, 100% of respondents indicated that fraud and corruption is monitored and reported. One worrying factor though is that almost 40% of the participating departments indicated that productive and idle hours of staff are not monitored. This is a point of concern as this has a direct bearing on service delivery.

In terms of the departmental results it needs to be reported that as far as the relationship with the public, relationship amongst employees, performance of duties and personal conduct are concerned the responses were highly positive. Many departments scored 100% for these categories.

This is encouraging from a service delivery point of view. However, the Departments of Safety and Security and Social Services (Western Cape) appeared to be cause for concern. In all the categories of the Code they scored relatively low in relation to the other departments. Both these departments are service delivery orientated and as such they need to give immediate attention to the key requirements of the Code.

The Integrity Thermometer also suggests that there is a high frequency of arriving late for work, or leaving early. In terms of the Code, a public servant should be committed to timely service to the development and upliftment of all South Africans. In terms of the survey it would appear that this principle is not being adhered to amongst many departments surveyed. Departments should take note of this principle, as non-adherence will affect service delivery. Guilty officials should summarily be dealt with in order to address this problem.

7. ASSESSMENT OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT

The Code was developed in 1997. Best practice requires ethical policies to be reviewed from time to time. There are no generally accepted guidelines in terms of the frequency of such reviews.

The Code - in its present format - is not very reader-friendly, although the Explanatory Manual on the Code of Conduct for the Public Service, of which more than a million copies were printed and distributed both nationally and provincially during 2002 would have had a positive impact on the understanding of the contents by public servants. A project is currently underway to translate this manual into all official languages - this will make a further important contribution in terms of the Code's accessibility. Given the current South African context, and the fact that the Code was promulgated in 1997, it is suggested that the Code should be subjected to a comprehensive review. This review should address the structure, context and style of the current Code. The PSC has planned for such a review to take place during the 2007/2008 financial year.

8. RECOMMENDA TIONS

Review of the Code of Conduct

The Public Service Commission should review the Code and clear guidance should be given with regards to the tone and structure of the Code. Public servants should be given the opportunity to participate in the development process, possibly through countrywide focus groups, interviews and surveys.

The following list suggests some characteristics of a good code of ethics. The code should:

• Make clear what is acceptable and unacceptable practice;
• Guide organisation policy by providing a set of corporate ethical standards (values);
• Encourage ethical behaviour of the board, managers and employees at all levels;
• Guide difficult decision-making;
• Make ethical infringements easy to identify;
• Promote awareness of, and sensitivity to, ethical issues;
• Help to resolve conflicts;
• Specify the enterprise's social responsibility;
• Cover relations between stakeholders; and
• Enhance the ethical reputation of the organization.

Ethics training I induction programme linked to a revised Code of Conduct

The second recommendation is the activation of an ethics training and induction programme linked to a revised Code of Conduct. The proposed structure for the revised code includes, amongst others:

• Key principles (This section will provide the key principles that should govern the everyday behaviour of public servants). To some extent, it summarises the aspirational elements of the current code, and could include some of the following principles:
  
  i. Public Servants are required to abide by all legislation, including the Constitution;

ii. Serve the public and to put the public interest first;

iii. Execute the policies of the government of the day, regardless of individual political affiliations; and iv. Promote sound, efficient, effective, transparent and accountable administration.

• Frequently Asked Questions (an addendum to the Code, to be updated from time to time, based on actual case studies to assist interpretation of the Code - this section will not form part of the regulations).

• Where to find help (a list of contact persons in all provinces, as well as the number of the toll free hotline).

Even the best possible code will be ineffective if it is not implemented properly. The main components of an effective implementation process are communication and training.

Communication: A comprehensive communication campaign should be developed that will involve the following:

• Ensuring that a copy of the Code is presented to all public servants.
• Informing external stakeholders, primarily members of the public, about the policy.
• Media releases.
• Ensuring visibility in offices through the use of posters and flyers.
• Discussing the policy in employee forums.
• Establishing management responsibility for ethics communication.
• Making the Code available on the internet and intranet.
• Issuing newsletters on the Code.

A review of the whistle blowing mechanism

Another recommendation is that a review of the Code's whistle-blowing mechanisms should be done. Section C.4.10. of the Code states that: "in the course of his her official duties, an employee shall report to the appropriate authorities, fraud, corruption, nepotism, maladministration and any other act which constitutes an offence, or which is prejudicial to the public interest". It needs to be noted that the State Law Reform Commission is currently conducting a comprehensive review of the public service whistle blowing mechanism and a report will be forthcoming towards the end of 2005.

The creation of a visible and credible ethics champion

No ethics programme will succeed if there is not a clear message from the top that the executive supports ethical behaviour. There should be clear evidence of ethical leadership from the top. Although it is unlikely that South Africa will follow the Ugandan example of appointing a Minister for Ethics and Integrity, there should be a clear focal point for ethics within the public service. This position should be clearly communicated to both public servants and members of the public. Thus, whilst the Public Service Commission is responsible for promoting professional ethics the appointment of an ethics champion for each department is recommended.

9. CONCLUSION

These suggestions in the recommendations point to a combination of a value and compliance based code of ethics. As the characteristics implies, it seeks to adopt the best of both approaches by guiding difficult decision-making, yet leaving enough scope for officials to make their own ethical decisions based on the values of the public service as expressed both in the code itself and the Constitution.