Leadership and Ethics in Higher Education 137contribution to the wellbeing of society, and might also risk loss to the
bottom line.2, 3 By its nature leadership is about values. These may be
values as received or shared, or values of a community, or values that
seek to ensure that declared outcomes are met. In other words values
should not be just about “just” ends but also about “just” means. It can
be stated, therefore, that leadership is ethics in practice.
9.2.2 Leadership Values and Morality
All that may be too theoretical. It is my view that in South Africa we
are guided by the Constitution and the values enshrined therein. Those
values are set out in the Preamble to the Constitution that speaks of the
goal of the Constitution being to “improve the quality of life of all
citizens and free the potential of each person.” In the first paragraphs of
the Constitution we are told that South Africa is one sovereign,
democratic state founded on the following values... human dignity, the
achievement of equality and social justice. This suggests that whatever
the actions of state or the agents of public power might be, it is about
enhancing the quality of life and dignity of others. This also means that
leadership and public resources are at the disposal of the state to
advance and enhance the purposes clearly set out in the Constitution.
It is worth taking notice that the South African Constitution (1996)
prefigures that the South African state is founded on “values”. That
therefore means that public power and governance are exercised on the
basis of values – meaning, an ethical standard of conduct, of decision-
making or a way of life founded on good and right thinking and actions.
One observes as a matter of concern that some of the judgments of the
justices of the Constitutional Court fail to draw on the intricate
relationship between law and ethics that one believes is embedded in our
2
UNESCO. 2015. Rethinking Education: Towards a global common good.
Paris. 3
World Bank. 2012. Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for
Tertiary Education.