As a citizen of Johannesburg, our water crisis is more dire than ever before. Our community WhatsApp groups are filled with people expressing frustration at water shedding, burst pipes and the lack of consistent water supply. Water shedding has become more frequent than load shedding. The situation is said to get worse as the winter months hit.

How did we get to this point?

In a recent interview, the Joburg Crisis Alliance was quoted as saying that leadership failures at the City of Johannesburg are the root cause of poor service delivery and deteriorating infrastructure. They, along with other civil society organisations, consistently emphasise what the City needs to address this water crisis: Ethical Leaders.

Ethical leadership, however, is about more than good intentions. Our research, conducted as part of developing the Code for Ethical Leadership in Local Government, indicates that ethical leadership consists of five interrelated elements: integrity, community centredness, accountability, diligence, and courage.

Integrity means that our leaders live honestly and, when they make a commitment or a promise, they ensure that they live up to it. In other words, they do what they say they will do.

In the case of the water crisis, there has been an evident lack of integrity among municipal leaders, both politically and administratively. Promises are constantly made to address the water crisis, but evidently, little is being done. This has led to a breakdown of trust between leaders and the communities they are meant to serve.

Ethical municipal leaders display community centredness, which means that they live the values of Ubuntu and Batho Pele to engage with communities meaningfully, respectfully, and objectively—placing long-term sustainable community interests above personal, party-political, or factional considerations. Unfortunately, coalition politics and party interest have gotten in the way of sound decision-making in the best interest of the municipality and its communities. We have witnessed this not only in the City of Johannesburg but more recently in Knysna Local Municipality, where council members have been unable to collectively make sound decisions due to fragile coalition politics.

Ethical municipal leaders hold themselves accountable, report transparently to stakeholders for their decisions and actions, and fairly hold others to account. Parliament, in its media statement issued on 12 February 2025, noted with concern the widespread unwillingness of municipalities to implement the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) recommendations regarding water. The statement specifically highlighted the lack of effective consequence management and stressed the urgent need for accountability to prevent the complete collapse of the system.

Ethical municipal leaders are diligent; they work hard and continuously improve their knowledge and competence in order to fulfil their roles effectively. Competence and diligence are critical characteristics of ethical leadership. Research examining the issues around the water crisis show that many municipal leaders lack the technical or corporate governance competence to make informed decisions about large-scale water infrastructure. These poor decisions have directly impacted on the delivery of water to communities.

Lastly, ethical municipal leaders require courage.  It is an unfortunate reality that the ethical culture in many municipalities has deteriorated to such an extent that simply doing the right thing carries risk.

It is therefore not sufficient for one leader to work in isolation.  There must be a collective understanding of the need for an ethical culture —and a shared commitment to strengthening it. We believe there are many good leaders in local government, but unfortunately, they are not the ones setting the tone.

For this reason, Principle 1 of the Code for Ethical Leadership in Local Government states: “An ethical municipal leader sets the tone for an ethical culture”. This goes beyond simply acting ethically oneself; it also involves influencing one’s environment and positively impacting the ethical culture of the municipality.

There is an expression that goes “we build an organisation’s culture by who we hire, who we fire, and who we promote”.  This holds true, as the people we appoint are those who will help us achieve what is important to us. Those we remove are often the ones standing in the way of that goal.

The spirit and core principle of the Code is that leaders should, above all else, ‘consider the long-term sustainable interest of the municipality and all its communities’ in all decisions – including those related to hiring, firing and promoting. Our research indicates that party politics, patronage politics, and personal interests take precedence over these long-term sustainable interests, particularly when it comes to appointments and accountability.

The Code for Ethical Leadership in Local Government is not a random collection of principles.  It is a practical set of governance recommendations which, if implemented, can foster more ethical organisational cultures, lead to more effective municipalities, and rebuild trust between local government and communities.

The first step to making the Code effective is for Councils to adopt it. Political parties should advocate the importance of abiding by the Code to the councillors they deploy, and hold them accountable should they not abide by it. Political parties must set the tone and continuously emphasise that ethical leadership is the non-negotiable way in which they lead.

As much as communities expect leaders to be ethical, they too should strive to abide by high ethical standards—and avoid placing unreasonable demands on councillors and officials that may pressure them into unethical conduct. Such pressure encourages short-term thinking and diverts resources from addressing long-term infrastructure challenges.

Ethical municipalities benefit us all, and ensuring ethical leaders at local level is certainly everyone’s responsibility. As we ready ourselves for the 2026 local government elections, the way in which our leaders navigate this water crisis will serve as a test for ethical leadership—and a clear yardstick for voters.

The water crisis has highlighted the need for ethical municipal leaders who will guide their municipalities out of this situation in the best interest of the municipality and its communities. This crisis has elevated the need for municipalities to adopt the Code for Ethical Leadership in Local Government.

Just as I finish writing, a message pops up from our ward councillor, urging residents to prepare for another period without water. As we brace ourselves for the cold front and dry taps, I hold onto hope—for a steady water supply, and for ethical municipal leaders who will set the tone for well-functioning, trustworthy municipalities.

Fatima Rawat is Senior Ethics Subject Matter Expert at The Ethics Institute.