To give you abit of insight into our visions and goals, we working towards a society that embraces good governance, sound morals and ethics and believe that corruption is a core issue that undermines these exact principles. Having met with The Public Protector (Adv. Madonsela) in July and having gained her support and advice that our concept of a National Integrity Awards Banquet to honour our moral and ethical heroes, those of integrity, is brilliant! So to tell you a bit more about the National Integrity Awards - The Awards Banquet will be the first of its kind for South Africa, making it unique. It is vitally important that in order to make whistle blowing/the reporting of wrong doing more effective, we need to make it more sociably acceptable! We are in the firm belief that one way of achieving this is by giving praise and recognition to those that have done the extraordinary and lifting them up as our moral and ethical heroes! More emphasis needs to be placed on protecting the rights of those individuals who have the courage and integrity to oppose the corrupt individuals and organisations – without fear of victimization and reprisal. The vision and the concept for The Awards Banquet is based largely on this very ideal – making the reporting of corruption/wrong doing more socially acceptable. When we have a society supporting those that report on corruption/wrong doing, blowing the whistle, this will go along way in changing perceptions that these people do indeed add tremendous value to society! Lifting up our moral and ethical heroes as champions for the general public! This in turn makes it more difficult for those that choose to discriminate and act against those that come forward.
The Awards ceremony is a powerful way in gaining society's involvement – by getting them involved and giving them an opportunity to nominate who they think are deserving of this honour. One of the Awards we will be presenting will be aimed specifically at organisations (private and public) who strive to practice good governance and ethics. Our thinking behind this concept is to get organisations thinking about their corporate governance and ethics structures. Our vision is to create an excitement and sense of honour amongst organisations in receiving such an award, thereby giving them added credibility, so that any individual who deals with them would have absolute confidence that they are 100% ethical in all their dealings and have sound governance structures that they adhere to. Having already covered the National Integrity Award for “Blowing the Whistle” etc which encompasses our whistle blowers, journalists, service men and women etc, one area that needs focus is Corporate Governance. Having tremendous respect and admiration for the strides Judge King has made in this field, we entered into discussions with Judge King to name this Award after him – The Mervyn King Award for Good Governance, to which we have received his endorsement of our concept and vision, together with his approval in naming the award after him.
Our vision for the National Integrity Awards now covers both categories – those that are reporting on and fighting corruption, as well as now also incorporating those that practice good governance and ethics in their organisations. Both these awards are aimed at reducing corruption within our society and encouraging the values of honesty and integrity. We believe that receiving such an award will go along way in promoting good governance and ethics within organisations, as well as changing the stigma attached to whistle blowing and the reporting of wrong doing.
OUR PRESTIGIOUS PANEL OF JUDGES TO DATE
Prof. Danny Titus (SA) Mr. Terry Crawford-Brown (Chairman Ecaar – SA) Dr. Zolile Mlisana (CEO Heartlines – SA) Ms. Allison Tilley Mr. Werner Coetzee (CEO – Sentigol – SA) Prof. Eltie Links (SA) Dr. Shulz-Herzenberg (Institute for Security Studies – SA) Prof. Kunle Adamson (Adamson Economics – USA) Mr. Brand Pretorius (CEO McCarthy - SA) Adv. Paul Hoffman (The Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa) Dr. Cephas Lumina (UKZN Faculty of Law) Mr. Nic Dawes (Mail & Guardian Editor) Archbishop Thabo Makgoba (Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town) Adv. TN Madonsela (Public Protector SA) Ms. Afrika Msimang (Univ. Pretoria) Adv. Este Becker Prof. Tina Uys (Chairperson: Department of Sociology, Acting Director: Centre for Sociological Research) Ms. Jill Matshana (Advanced Specialist - Technology Trends Research) Dr. Peter Hammond (African Christian Action) Mr. Michael Pedersen (Head of PACI, Ass Dir. World Economic Forum, Council Manager GAC on Corruption) Mr. Guy Brazier (Deloitte & Touche) Mr. Hardus Zevenster (CEO Radio Tygerberg) Ms. Futhi Mtoba (Chair – Deloitte & Touche, President of BUSA,Chair-NACF) Fr. Mkhatshwa ( Chair - Moral Regeneration Movement )
If you would like to be involved or support what we stand for and are trying to achieve, please feel free to make contact with us. We would love to hear from you!
