Political Science & Public Administration

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Browsing Political Science & Public Administration by Subject "Corruption: South Africa."

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    The ethical dilemmas of whistle-blowing and corruption in the South African public sector.
    (2005) Mbatha, Joel Sifiso; ;
    This thesis focussed on three key concepts: ethics, corruption and whistleblowing. These concepts are examined within the context of the South African public sector. The meanings of the concepts corruption, ethics, values, morality and human rights, as well as their influence on the public official were investigated. The context of the role of ethics, conformity, as well as the various causes, manifestations and conditions in society that allow corruption to occur among public officials and political office bearers were also clarified. By drawing upon relevant theories in literature that concem the ethical dilemmas of the prospective whistle-blower, the thesis also attempted to determine how heterogeneous employees of different cultures, backgrounds and education, perceived ethics, corruption and whistle-blowing. It was also an aim of the thesis to investigate and expand upon the important ideas advanced by the documented literature and legislation in order to investigate employees' perceptions with regard to ethics and corruption. Attention was paid to an infrastructure for transparent and ethical govemance, manifestation of unethical conduct, as well as statutory guidelines and codes of conduct. A variety of measures and instruments. both nationally and intemationally were discussed. Specific attention is paid to national integrity systems, legislative measures to control corruption and promote the disclosure of malpractice. as well as other formal mechanisms and judicial measures to protect whistle blowers. The importance of the Protected Disclosures Act of 2000 as a prerequisite for democracy was highlighted. Attention was given to whistle-blowing as an internal control mechanism by providing definitions, investigating the characteristics of prospective whistle blowers and examining the process of whistle-blowing. The context within which whistle-blowing occurs was scrutinised and responses by organisations were discussed. The findings of research into official, primary and secondary sources are integrated with the existing legislation and presented in the context of the specific problems associated with the ethical dilemmas of whistle-blowing in the South African public sector. The thesis also attempted to present some indicators and potential predictors of Whistle-blowing. It was established that, despite the clear emphasis on whistle-blowing as an internal mechanism to combat corruption and new legislative protection in terms of protected disclosures, corruption has not been eliminated from public institutions. It was also evident that the fear of reprisals as a result of a disclosure is still a factor that negatively impacts on effective whistle-blowing. Indeed, the fear of retaliation after blowing the whistle, may have more effect on some employees that the actual fear of the detrimental effect of being a victim of corruption as such. The thesis hypothesised that public sector employees' perceptions and the government's understanding of ethical behaviour and corruption are important, as they can serve as useful indicators and yardsticks to measure the progress in disclosing and managing corruption. KEY TERMS Whistle-blowing: Ethics: Values: Morality: Information; Disclosures; Corruption; Greed; Patronage: Nepotism; Bribery: Graft; Ghosting; Code of Ethics; Fraud: Governance: Government.
University of Zululand