Nelson Mandela Foundation and partners to honour ethical public servants

 Integrity Idol South Africa, a campaign aimed at inspiring a national movement to honour, encourage and connect honest civil servants, was launched yesterday by Nelson Mandela Foundation in conjunction with  the Accountability Lab,  LifeCo UnLtd and Democracy Works Foundation.

“We want to move away from ‘naming and shaming’ corrupt leaders and towards ‘naming and faming’ those bureaucrats that are working with integrity and doing the right thing even when no-one is watching,” said Jean Scrimgeour, Accountibility Lab strategy and operations manager.

The project will draw lessons from successful implementation of Integrity Idol since 2015 in Nepal, Liberia, Mali and Pakistan – which garnered millions of viewers.

“The winning Idols have now gone on to lead important reform processes in their countries based on the trust and credibility generated through Integrity Idol; and the Accountability Lab is now working with them to expand their integrity networks to do everything from developing national policies to redesigning curricula for civil service training schools,” Scrimgeour explained.

From the January 16 to the end of February, South Africans will be able to use their phones to nominate an integrity idol working for government in health, education or safety and security. In March, an expert panel of “respected South Africans” will draw a shortlist of ten nominees.

In the same month, working with Emmy award-winning film-maker, young South African filmmakers will be be mentored to develop short films of the finalists who discharge their duties with integrity. The short films will be shown on screen and social media platforms, with audio made available to community radio stations.

In May, the public will once again be invited to vote for the “Integrity Idol” through SMS, social media, WhatsApp and online. The Integrity Idols winners will be crowned in a public ceremony during a special event with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and LifeCo UnLtd and BMW Foundation.

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