Inclusivity for ethical public sector governance in South Africa

Abstract

Public sector organisations have moral obligations to a diverse range of stakeholders. The governance of ethics as an integral part of sound governance in the public sector. This necessitates the application of principles of accountability, responsibility, fairness and transparency inclusively to all stakeholders. The South African Constitution of 1996 identifies these core principles as underpinning sound public sector management in a democratic dispensation. The landscape of public sector governance constitutes various control measures to ensure that the interest of all stakeholders is acknowledged. This article focuses on the contribution of inclusive ethics to sound ethical governance in the public sector. While there is no universally accepted best practice of corporate governance, the governance of inclusive ethics in new democratised states like South Africa is vital which embodies a complex system in which individuals, public sector departments and societal characteristics dynamically interact and converge or diverge.