Themed “My personal value system as a catalyst for effective public leadership and governance", the School of Public Leadership in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the Western Cape Department of Local Government hosts the first of a series of Councillor Summer School Sessions on Ethical Leadership and Personal Value System with each of the District municipalities and its local municipalities.
Hosted in George, Saldanha Bay, Worcester and Caledon, the initiative explored innovative training and ethical leadership tools for Municipal Councillors, with a focus on the importance of communication and transparency in delivering government's mandate.
Speaking at the opening of the first session hosted in George on 11 October 2019, the Department of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Minister, Anton Bredell described the Summer School and other training opportunities of this kind, as critical programmes towards empowering and capacitating councillors with tools to assist in their roles. The Minister added that amongst the most critical roles ward councillors must consider is to constantly communicate with the community and their town council; as communication and transparency is critical towards delivering on government's mandate and improving the lives of communities.
The Summer School was also praised and fits squarely in with the mandate of the Department of Local Government, which is to support and strengthen the capacity of our municipalities to manage their own affairs.
The Minister further said “It remains critical to keep improving ourselves where we can". “We live in a rapidly evolving world, where things may change daily and that we need to keep adapting through continued up-skilling, through programs like these led by the University of Stellenbosch, which helps to better prepare councillors for the very real challenges and decisions that await in public service".
Topics covered during the one (1) day seminars by a highly professional team from the School of Public Leadership (SPL) project managed by Johnny Douglas and facilitated by Dr Len Mortimer were:
- My personal value system as a catalyst for effective public leadership and governance in the Western Cape- Minister Bredell, WC Minister of Local Government;
- My Values and the Councillor Code of Conduct-Prof Tania Ajam, SPL
- Unpacking the contributing values to servant(democratic) public leadership and governance-Prof Zweli Ndevu, SPL;
- Understanding my own value set and its influence on an effective and productive environment Mr Warren Charles,SPL
The Summer School concluded on 30 October with the final session being hosted in George with the councillors from the Central Karoo District Municipal Council and other local Municipal councillors from the Garden Route District Region.
