South Africa
Nominations for our 2023 campaign are officially closed! We’re busy validating all the nominations received and will be announcing our finalists in due course.
Our Integrity Icons for 2022 were announced and they are an incredibly committed group of public servants in the education, healthcare, law enforcement and administration sectors. Watch all their stories here. Thank you for supporting our Icons, showing them lots of love and for voting for them!
Our Icons include Goodman Sibongeleni Mkhize, an accounting teacher who supports learners beyond his classroom by providing accounting lessons and coaching talented learners in sports. Desiree Sehlapelo has prioritized the restoration of public trust in government services by modelling excellent service, including sourcing funding to drive government projects that benefit the community. Warrant Officer Bongani Eric Siyona works with different organizations to uplift young people, including helping them get their learner’s and driver’s licenses and organizing food parcels for patrollers in the area. Dr. Anna Cross goes out of her way to ensure all her patients receive the best medical care when they visit Masiphumelele Clinic. She has also set up a Facebook community page to inform community members about various services and government information and answer health-related questions. Rounding up our group of Icons is Adell Lebabo. Through her initiative, “Adopt a Learner,” she is helping underserved learners with their education needs and has made it her mission to ensure that no child is left behind because of poverty.
Congratulations to all our Icons!
Accountability Lab is building a new generation of active citizens and responsible leaders around the world. We train, mentor and resource citizens in creative ways to strengthen systems of accountability and unleash positive social and economic change.
Since 2012, we’ve worked across Liberia, Nepal, Mali, Nigeria and Pakistan, making governance work for people everywhere. We now operate in other countries too, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Niger, Mexico, DRC, and Somaliland.
In 2018, we launched Integrity Icon South Africa, a national campaign to name and fame honest government officials. Building on the early success of the campaign as a special project, Accountability Lab South Africa registered as an independent country office in 2019.
In March 2020, Accountability Lab (AL) and partners including Explain and ACTIVATE! Change Drivers launched our third edition of Integrity Icon South Africa. Building on the successes of the campaign since it began in 2018, we asked South Africa to nominate public servants who work with honesty and integrity and “do the right thing even when no-one is watching”.
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NOMINATIONS FROM ALL 9 PROVINCES IN SA
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INTEGRITY ICONS NAMED AND FAMED
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VOTES RECEIVED FOR THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD WINNER
A lack of integrity – which leads to corruption, inequality and insecurity – is a global challenge. Ordinary citizens often feel helpless in the face of graft and mismanagement. There is a need to encourage champions of integrity, which ultimately builds public trust. We ‘name and fame’ public servants who display exemplary integrity and make heroes out of ordinary people doing the right thing.
The value of Integrity Icon is the process, not the outcome. It is a way to create meaningful conversations about what it means to be a public servant and shines a light on the role of ordinary people in strengthening institutions in a society such as ours. It also encourages us to think about what is needed to build an open, inclusive and accountable societies.
Meet the 5 South African Integrity Icon Winners
Adell Lebabo
Bongani Eric Siyona
Desiree Sehlapelo
Dr Anna Cross
Goodman Sibongeleni Mkhize
Our Judges
Mark Heywood
Phumelele Nzimande
Mmapaseka “Steve” Letsike
Khadija Patel
Meet our previous judges here.
INTEGRITY ICON CAMPAIGN TIMELINE:
SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGN FOR CHANGE:
Our goal is to build a broad movement of people recognising and acknowledging ethics and integrity in the public service. To make this possible, we need you. Support us in one or more of the following ways: