‘Verify qualifications upfront’

VETTING: IT’S GOOD GOVERNANCE, PROTECTS FIRMS FROM REPUTATIONAL DAMAGE – EXPERT

‘Board composition probably has greater impact on success of an organisation.’

The questions around the validity of directors’ qualifications should not come up after appointment, the Institute of Directors in South Africa (Iodsa) has said.

It is important to verify directors’ qualifications before they are appointed to a board because it is basic good governance and protects the organisation from reputational damage if a director is unable to provide quality input.

This important requirement for appointing directors and in fact all senior management and this is in the spotlight now after a newspaper said an economist who uses the title doctor does not seem to have a PhD in economics.

This is not an isolated incident and it has happened before that senior managers did not have the qualifications they said they had.

Tshepo Mahanuke was fired in June last year as CEO of the Johannesburg Roads Agency after Daily Maverick reported that he claimed to have a Harvard master’s degree that does not exist.

His honorary doctorate from the Trinity International University of Ambassadors could be bought for a small “support honorarium”, while his master’s degree in competitive intelligence from ACI College is not offered at Harvard Business School.

In another case it was revealed Daniel Mthimkhulu, an executive of Passenger Rail Association of SA (Prasa), did not have a national diploma in mechanical engineering from the Vaal University of Technology and no degree in mechanical and maintenance engineering from Wits University. He also did not have an engineering doctorate from the Technische Universitat Munchen as he said.

Iodsa CEO Prof Parmi Natesan said questions around directors’ qualifications should be raised before they are appointed.

“Performing due diligence on any appointment in any organisation and especially for senior appointments is basic good governance,” Natesan said.

“Given the huge responsibility that directors carry and their importance to the organisation they must be thoroughly vetted.”

Research by the Iodsa shows that board composition probably has a greater impact on the future success of an organisation than any other aspect of governance. –