Lead Articles.

by Prof Deon Rossouw | Published on 29 April 2020 for The Ethics Institute monthly newsletter

Crisis always has the potential of bringing out the best and the worst in human beings. We have already seen much of both in the current Corona crisis. We have seen gestures of goodwill where people make personal sacrifices for the sake of others who are detrimentally affected by the Pandemic. However, we have also seen people who make exceptions of themselves by not abiding by the measures announced to curb the spread of the Corona virus, thereby recklessly putting their own and the health and safety of others at risk.

by Dr. Paul Vorster  | Published on 25 March 2020 for The Ethics Institute monthly newsletter

Humanity now faces a threat second to none. As of writing this article there have been 424 802 infections with 18 962 deaths due to the SARS Cov-2 virus that causes the respiratory disease known as COVID-19. Over 197 territories have been affected by this pandemic. It is essentially a global threat. It is harming our economies as stock markets fall and countries effectively shut their borders in a total ‘shutdown’. The effect of this virus is not just illness, but possible economic collapse and in the worst-case, social collapse.

In the recent weeks I have seen stories of people panicking and buying out essential goods from supermarkets. In a more horrific turn of events, my local supermarket had incidents where older people, who are at most risk of death from this pandemic, were shunted aside as younger and stronger citizens with more buying power stockpiled goods.

There are stories of people ignoring the risk of the virus and being irresponsible, with a new social media sensation where people expose themselves to the virus as a sort of ‘exciting’ risk. Do they not realise that their health may affect the health of others? Especially those with chronic diseases or the elderly.

by Prof Deon Rossouw | Published on 27 January 2020 for The Ethics Institute monthly newsletter

2020 did not start well for South Africa. There was load-shedding during the school holidays, despite President Ramaphosa’s promise to the contrary. Moody’s rating agency down-graded the Landbank to sub-investment credit grade or ‘junk’ status. The International Monetary Fund cut South Africa’s economic growth prospects from 1.1% to 0.8% for the year. And all of this in just the first few days of the new decade.

by Kris Dobie | Published on 25 October 2019 for The Ethics Institute monthly newsletter

Discussions of ethical challenges in the public sector frequently lead to discussions of the ‘political-administrative interface’, which seems to be a euphemism for political interference in the bureaucratic systems of government. To which the solution is just as frequently given that we need a ‘more professional’ public sector. 

by Grace Garland | Published on 25 September 2018 for The Ethics Institute monthly newsletter

In South Africa, and indeed probably any democracy around the world, the idea of ‘equality’ is held up as a core goal for society. This is not new. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato thought that justice was the highest virtue, and that anything inequitable is unjust and anything equitable is just. Revolutionaries in France in 1789 thought that equality belonged with liberty and fraternity as the founding principles of their envisioned post-monarchist society. And here, equality is enshrined in the Bill of Rights. But do we know what we mean when we use the word today? There is a case to be made that we do not, and so expose ourselves to a danger of sorts.

by Prof Deon Rossouw and Parmi Natesan | Published on 27 July 2018 for The Ethics Institute monthly newsletter, along with a joint press release with the IoDSA

One of the most persistent challenges relating to governance is the tendency to focus on form rather than substance. In line with King IV, it’s time finally to accept that governance is not an end in itself, but a tool for delivering outcomes, say Parmi Natesan, Executive: Centre for Corporate Governance at the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA) and Professor Deon Rossouw, CEO of The Ethics Institute.