Theme: Ethics and leadership

Salutations
Programme director,
Premier of Gauteng Province, Mr Paul Mashatile,
MEC of Social Development, Ms Nikiwe Mangqo,
Ambassador Ms Nozipho Bardil,
Dr Myles Munroe and Ms Munroe,
Honoured guests, and
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a great honour for me to be part of this special occasion, an occasion which gives us an opportunity to define and evaluate the relationship between the role of ethics and leadership, especially among women in our country.

I take this opportunity to thank the organisers and funders of the leadership initiative. To the MTN Group, Rapidawn Marketing, Gauteng Fund, ABSA, State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and the North West and Gauteng Provincial Governments, please accept our gratitude and appreciation for your sterling work.

This event gives us a platform to review our achievements and the challenges that remain in order to develop a common language and framework for business ethics and corporate social responsibility; to stimulate the transformation of followers into leaders through integrity and trust; encourage agents of positive change by creating an environment in which young leaders can develop.

These tasks and responsibilities compel us to also redefine what we mean when we talk about ethical leadership. We sometimes use the word ethics casually and refer to leadership at work, in business and in government - but what do we really mean by these words? How do we define leadership that is ethical?

I take a leaf from our invited guest Dr Munroe in his book The Spirit of Leadership when he defines leadership as, and I quote, "the capacity to influence others through inspiration motivated by a passion, generated by a vision, produced by a conviction, ignited by a purpose."

In practice, what is this passion, vision and conviction generated by a purpose?

In my understanding ethical leadership begins with ethical values. It is about making a lasting contribution to the lives of those people who entrusted us with realising a vision of creating a better society for our families and making a positive contribution to the lives of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Ladies and gentlemen,
At heart, ethical values talk about who we are and communicate how we were raised at home and taught at school. As we say in our culture: you are who you are based on your upbringing at home and the values that were instilled in you by the environment and community that moulded you.

History bears testimony to this ethical leadership I am referring to. This is a leadership based on self-sacrifice and selfless courage as exemplified by women who over centuries confronted the challenges we faced at different but critical stages in our country.

From the women slaves in the Cape Peninsula, those who fought for survival in the reserves, to the women who marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the unjust pass laws in 1956, women have showed unparalleled ethical and principled leadership.

I strongly believe the women gathered here today have it within themselves to continue struggling for a just, non-racial and equal society, infused with the values that come down the ages from those that came before us.

Fortunately for us here at home, we have made major advancements in various professional fields. As you would know by now, in this second decade of our democracy almost half of Cabinet ministers are women and we have thirty-four percent (34 percent) of women in senior management positions in government.

According to the Businesswomen's Association (BWA) 2007 census of South African women in corporate leadership, there were 298 women directors holding 385 directorships between them.

However, this survey also reveals that the number of women Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and chairpersons of boards stand at an unacceptable zero-point-two percent (0,2 percent).

Overall, we must pride ourselves that our Constitutional democracy allows us the necessary space to develop future women leaders across all spectrums of society, so that we produce women who will drive a development agenda that improves the lives of all South Africans.

Ladies and gentlemen,
What I am saying is that while we may enjoy the fruits and benefits of our hard-won freedom, this equally places a responsibility on us to share and spread these fruits to those who do not have the requisite information on how, for example, to start up a small business, or where to go to source funding.

But what the marginalised youth of our country need the most is accessing mentors and role models.

All of us gathered here tonight are in one way or another moral and ethical agents who come from institutions founded on specific ideals that are reflected in the policies and structures of these institutions.

We have to behave responsibly irrespective of whether we are in the private sector occupying positions of influence and power. Power without a moral and ethical compass is lost and destructive.

This is a reason I commend the organisers of this gala dinner for promoting issues of:
* sound ethics and good governance,
* ethics and policy decisions in all spheres of government,
* encouraging an on-going dialogue among leaders in business, and
* introduce joint solutions to socio-economic development.

As we take advantage of this democratic space, we must be equally conscious that if we fail to lay a solid foundation as women leaders, we will be setting future women leaders up for failure.

Moreover, it means we must make it our top priority to act with integrity and earn the trust of our people by ploughing back to our communities in all manner possible, using the skills, expertise and resources we now have as a result of this democracy so that we contribute towards the broader well-being of our people.

As you will agree, women are in positions of influence and can no longer be seen merely as consumers, they are now producers of knowledge and resources that society needs and depends upon.

For us as civil servants, this means speeding up delivery of essential services like health and education without regard for personal benefit but driven by a will to provide service to the poor and the marginalised.

Most importantly, it means in our various workstations, we have to desist from participating in acts of corruption, mishandling of public funds and mismanagement. I honestly believe we would be falling short of our values of ubuntu when we as a society tolerate the continued abuse and violation of our mothers and daughters.

We would be going against the values of botho if our grandparents continue to be denied their pension money by corrupt government officials.

Programme director,
I am sure you would agree with me that ubuntu/botho expresses our humanity and highlights our ethical models as a people who place people first as we say Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, 'I am because we are.'

Our standards of proper ethical behaviour obliges us as citizens to play our role in helping to fight poverty, stamping out crime and being the eyes and ears of society against those who personalise public funds.

We must make it our noble goal to defeat poverty that affects many women who are not in privileged positions like us.

In this current global financial crisis, we cannot be seen to claim easy victories when many rural women still struggle to provide for their families.

As government, we will confirm or disprove through our deeds that ethical leadership is about service to the people.

In my understanding as a proud former teacher, ethical leadership is not about pursuit of positions of power. It is much more than that! If leadership is simply synonymous with power then this would be a gross violation of everything we fought for to gain our freedom.

Therefore in practice this means as women we must influence decisions for the greater good so that we ensure initiatives and aspirations for poor women in our country are advanced. As civil society, government and the private sector, we must make sure that their businesses are supported and that skills development initiatives are supported.

Most small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) located in the second economy are owned and managed by women. In order for the second economy to thrive it needs our support in order for it to join the mainstream economic sector.

After all, we have the collective responsibility to ensure that all women in leadership occupy such positions with dignity and compassion owing to the people who entrusted them with such privileged responsibilities.

We must pursue this objective inspired by the knowledge that as women we are the mothers and nurturers of the family and the nation. We have the responsibility to help channel our institutions to spend more on their corporate social investments (CSI) in education, skills development and experiential-learning-transfer as well as support for youth-owned enterprises.

To us, as mothers of the nation, ethical leadership must mean the ability to locate and to timeously respond to the national challenges of fighting poverty and unemployment.

To us, leadership must translate into practical benefits for the people we lead! As the President of the Republic, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe stated in his Address to the Nation: "Our country is emerging from one of the most difficult weeks in the history of our young democracy...Yet, it is at moments like this that the true character of our nation emerges. It is when we are tested, that we demonstrate our resilience and determination. We have shown in the past that though we may at times experience difficulty, we have both the will and the means to rise above the challenges of the moment."

In his book, The Spirit of Leadership, Dr Myles Munroe says, and I quote: "To many, leadership is an act, not a calling. Therefore, when they are in their offices, they act a certain way, but when they leave, they lead double lives. This is a contradiction of true leadership. Leadership is not a technique, a style, or the acquisition of skills, but a manifestation of a spirit."

As representatives from sectors spanning all spheres of society, let us work together to promote a caring society and stimulate a culture of care-giving for vulnerable members of our society.

Also, we need to develop the leadership capabilities of our young people, nurture and monitor them to become successful professionals and business people in future.

As we approach and prepare for the fourth democratic elections next year, I urge all of you as leaders to do what is right and go out there to encourage our people, especially the youngsters, to go to their respective voting stations to register to vote on the weekend of 8 and 9 November.

Indeed, it is the right to do!

I wish you much continued success in all your deliberations.

Thank you.