Awards reflect skills of local practitioners
• High standard of nominations across all categories for this year’s renewal has panel of judges impressed
The Institute of Risk Management South Africa (Irmsa) Awards took place on November 3 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand with about 400 guests from SA’s risk community, including Mervyn King, chairperson of the King Committee, and Institute of Directors in Southern Africa CEO, Angela Cherrington.
The panel of adjudicators were impressed with the level of nominations received across the range of award categories, which revealed the high standard of practitioners in the South African risk sector.
The winners — individuals and organisations that have distinguished themselves in the field of risk management — are:
Individual Awards Risk Influencer of The Year — King 4 Committee — The Institute of Directors in Southern Africa
The release of King 4 has elevated the profile of risk management. The requirements of King 4 have had a huge impact on risk management. Most notable is the focus on the positive and upside of risk which include all the opportunities risk has to offer.
Up and Coming Risk Manager of The Year — Lesiba Mothata
Mothata has demonstrated the link between economics and enterprise risk management (ERM) by working closely with the chief risk officer, becoming an Irmsa member and writing board exam 1. ERM functions often struggle to deliver value, impact and real business change and decision making. Mothata has demonstrated his ability to achieve this through a balance of technical skill and knowledge, experience and sense of humility not often found at this level.
Risk Specialist of The Year — Lwazi Mbele
Mbele is a capable, professional source of technical expertise on the risk management process. He was responsible for designing and implementing Eskom’s ERM standard process control manual and associated tools. He contributed to the development of policy and the organisation’s strategy for risk management. He led the process of integrating the requirements of risk management into strategy setting and business planning process, which resulted in more cohesion between business planning and risk management.
Risk Manager of The Year — Brendan Maseti.
Maseti was appointed to enhance and improve the identification and management of risk for Lonmin, at a time when it faced multiple risks on a number of fronts. He enabled the board to focus both on identifying new risks and effectively manage existing risks. He focused the executive committee (exco) and the board on addressing and discussing dashboards effectively. Risk scenario planning around the strategic planning process was introduced to facilitate and lead “black swan” discussions at exco and board level. Concepts such as risk appetite and tolerance were incorporated into the strategic planning processes and rolled out into regular risk reporting. His strengths lie in a balance of technical know-how, leadership, problem solving and collaborative abilities.
Industry Awards Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing — Senwes
Senwes has adopted a quantitative approach to risk management. All risks have a rand value that is updated daily, based on a number of drivers and key risk indicators. Realtime quantitative risk assessment information is now available reflecting risks across the business. Access to this information allows the company to make better, fully informed decisions. The company’s risk management maturity and culture have improved and it has increased departmental efficiencies.
Communications and Technology — Vodacom — Vodacom’s Risk Culture Analysis
The main purpose of the risk culture analysis was to gauge what employees thought the risk culture was and their perception of risk management. Risk culture is a key metric for success. A healthy risk culture enhances resilience against crises and everyday challenges. This led to a heightened sense of shared responsibility and risk ownership, which results in improved engagement and more effective management of risks across the organisation.
Education — The University of Johannesburg, School of Accountancy
The University of Johannesburg, School of Accountancy initiated a joint research group with National Treasury, office of the accountant-general, to understand the state, maturity and perceived effectiveness of risk management in SA’s public service. This was in response to the auditor-general’s latest report. The report highlights major areas that require improvement. This has provided Treasury with the shortcomings and how these can be addressed.
Financial Services — Nedbank
The Nedbank group-wide Internal Control Environment Assessment Across all Lines of Defence was initiated in response to an environment that continues to grow in complexity and volatility. Directors needed to know whether the internal control environment was sufficiently robust to meet the changing risk management needs of the organisation. It provides a useful overview for directors, which allows decisions to be made with a full understanding of the strength of the internal control environment.
Government and Public Services — Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality
Implementing integrated governance, risk and compliance systems has resulted in the City of Ekurhuleni establishing itself as an industry leader in these areas. The city has achieved two clean audits from the auditor-general. Instilling a culture of prudent risk management and sound governance has seen the risk maturity increase. By ensuring risk management is an integral part of service delivery, it can proactively identify risks and manage any deviations. It shares its model for implementing risk management to various platforms.
Healthcare — Unjani Clinics
Unjani Clinics is a network of black women-owned and operated primary healthcare clinics that provide accessible, affordable and quality healthcare to communities in low-income areas. Overall the initiative has resulted in the risk of ineffective funding to enterprises being mitigated; provided insight to healthcare logistics and strategy for emerging markets; reduced the time employees take to receive medical attention; and the opportunities for nurses has increased to allow them to become entrepreneurs.
Hospitality and Tourism — Wilderness Safaris
Wilderness Safaris’ group-wide risk initiative was necessitated after the company listed on the stock exchange and required a formal managed risk initiative. Internal awareness of risk and the value of reporting risks have been adopted at all levels. Better reporting increases the amount of risk data captured, which enhances informed decisions at management and board levels.
Insurance and Reinsurance — Insurance Young Guns
The Insurance Young Guns concept arose in response to skills shortages being identified as a risk. The vision is to create a thriving insurance industry that attracts, supports and retains young talent. The mission is to provide an inclusive and vibrant forum to provide opportunities for networking and peer-to-peer education to insurance professionals under the age of 35, accelerating career growth.
Mining and Quarrying — Hernic Ferrochrome
Hernic introduced an automated SHEQ risk management system as part of its proactive approach to risk management. The integrated system has enhanced access control and safety including training. These initiatives have improved risk management on site, reducing injury frequency rates and the rate of incidents and nonconformances.
Professional Services, Training Providers, Consultants and Auditors — Aurecon South Africa
Aurecon was contracted to undertake a feasibility study for the development of a halaal industrial park in the Western Cape, which was identified as a potential key enabler to sustained industrial growth and job creation. The assignment was complex due to the range of stakeholders and uncertainty on how best to achieve the objectives. The team combined design thinking principles with diverse specialist partners who enabled stakeholders to make sense of the complexity and interdependencies of the investment strategy.
Risk Management System Providers — Cura Software
The Cura GRC ERM and project risk management solution was implemented at Vodacom to assist the enterprise risk management strategy. The company had an updated strategy to not only prevent crises but also enable the identification of new opportunities. This risk strategy needed software to underpin it. The system provides relevant information to those responsible for the achievement of Vodacom’s strategic risk objectives. The implementation of the solution is a key enabler in driving Vodacom to achieve its specific strategy regarding customers, growth, operations, people and reputational objectives.
Transport and Logistics — OR Tambo International Airport as part of Airports Company SA
Acsa implemented an operating model that saw a redesign within its operational space. As a result OR Tambo International Airport had to align the environmental and aviation safety compliance area with enterprise risk management. This resulted in a dedicated focus on actively managing environmental compliance and aviation safety risks. This has assisted the airport in enhancing its environmental performance, fulfilling its compliance obligations and achieving its environmental objectives by driving opportunities and treating risks.
Wholesale and Retail — Pick n Pay
Embedding combined assurance in the Pick n Pay group has accelerated efficiencies. This has assisted in group risk and assurance being perceived as a more adequate and effective business partner. The initiative has improved visibility and transparency of all key risks, aided communication and action plans, increased managing interdependencies and realigned resources.
Multimedia — MultiChoice support services
The MultiChoice group has entities spread across the continent with different levels of maturity in the control environment. The risk and control self-assessment initiative has resulted in independent assurance being provided in line with an agreed plan. The initiative created awareness in key processes and provided a view of the residual risk as a result of the assessed control effectiveness.