Ethical corporate governance: the significance and impact of ethics in the South African corporate culture

Abstract not available

South Africa’s transition to a constitutional democracy represented a significant moral shift. This should have manifested in the foundational pillars of ethical value and integrity resulting in a better life for all. However, South Africans have grown discontent as they continue to be daunted by high-income inequality, low quality education and unemployment. A nation juxtaposed between a modern (developed) economy with a large scale of informality and sizeable wealth adjacent to pervasive poverty, which is shaped by different forms of South Africa’s cities and rural life. Democracy in South Africa, like in most countries on the continent, has been marked with disorder as political unrest and rampant corruption continue to undermine the fabric of society. It begs the question of whether South Africa could be facing economic challenges as a result of the collapse of the foundational pillars of its ethical value systems (Hope and Chikulo, 2000:1). Over the last two decades, ethical corporate governance has attracted a great deal of public interest because of its importance for the economic health of corporations and society in general. In his June 2019 SONA President Ramaphosa emphasised the commitment to building an ethical state. This recent focus on ethical governance allows for the opportunity to reflect on South Africa’s corporate ethical culture. It does so by looking at ethics as a key differentiator in a highly competitive international market, where reputation and values are now as important as products and services. The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of the State Capture unearthed floundering and crucial information regarding corrupt activities involving the private and public sectors in South Africa, the plague of unethical behaviour has never been more widespread. This research proposal is focused on scrutinising the significance and impact of ethics in the South African corporate culture. At the outset, it is pertinent that culture is positioned within the organisational context. Since the concept of organisational culture surfaced in the late 1970s, it has been well accepted in organisations (Schoeman, 2017:23). The regulatory corporate framework, the King IV Report (2016:102) on Corporate Governance, puts emphasis on the topic of ethical culture