CGF ARTICLES, OPINIONS & EDITORIALS
January 18,
2017 10719 10719
By Jené Palmer and reviewed by Terrance M. Booysen
Board performance, or the lack thereof, has recently been quite prominent in the South African landscape. Unfortunately, the examples of mismanagement, poor oversight and lacklustre governance of our state-owned entities as well as some private sector businesses, abound. Poor and deteriorating financial results, high staff turnovers, lack of strategic direction and transparency as well as little to no stakeholder communication, are but some of the symptoms of a poorly performing board.
November 7,
2016 8099 8099
Article by Robert Davies (CGF: Lead Independent Consultant) and reviewed by Terrance M. Booysen
Saying or doing something racist, or performing various deeds which falls within a long list of things the Bill deems to be hate speech -- or a hate crime -- could see you ending up with a criminal record.
November 7,
2016 8362 8362
Article by Dr Dicky Els and Terrance M. Booysen
With the accelerated pace of global development, fuelled by South Africa’s socio-economic and political uncertainty, there are obvious knock-on business implications that increase business risks, not least of which includes dampening the mood for local investment. It is therefore not surprising to see many organisations downsizing, restructuring and even being forced to shrink their trading operations in the face of declining revenue and higher cost pressures. Since the 2007-2008 global financial market crisis, organisations are operating in turbulent markets and have to constantly adapt to increasing business uncertainty and changing circumstances.
October 18,
2016 9410 9410
By Terrance M. Booysen and reviewed by Joanne Matisonn (Head of Corporate Governance: TMF Corporate Services)
It has been said that it is very difficult to accurately describe what exactly defines a good board of directors, and trying to find a scientific formulae for a so-called ‘perfect’ board is improbable. At the inception of the first round of appointing directors on the board, the shareholders will usually have a very good idea of the ideal group of directors which they believe will be best suited and qualified to start and direct the business.
September 19,
2016 150439 150439
Article by Terrance M. Booysen and reviewed by Megan Grindell (Director: Carter DGF Risk Management)
In today’s heightened times of public scrutiny and calls for ethical leaders, it’s not surprising that many concerned citizens have become far more demanding for good governance and transparency.
July 18,
2016 8562 8562
Article by CGF Research Institute
As a Proudly South African company, CGF Research Institute (Pty) Ltd (‘CGF’) was founded in 2004 on the basis of assisting organisations to deal with the challenges of governance, risk and compliance (‘GRC’). Back then, CGF’s board of directors correctly anticipated the complexities that would challenge many South African organisations, both large and small.
July 18,
2016 8284 8284
Article by Terrance M. Booysen and reviewed by Ian Jacobsberg (Partner: Hogan Lovells)
At the time when South Africa re-entered the global economic arena in 1994 -- amongst a number of critical tasks set by the late President Nelson Mandela -- the newly elected democratic government realised the importance of establishing Bilateral Investment Treaties (‘BITs’) with foreign countries. These BITs were established in order to inter alia; boost the then ailing economy through international trade, as well as to attract their much needed foreign investment to South Africa.
July 5,
2016 8186 8186
Article by Terrance M. Booysen
As South Africa’s economy continues to struggle with shrinkage of 7.1% in exports and imports -- which was recently reported by Statistics SA for the first quarter of 2016 -- our dismal GDP (gross domestic product) annual growth of less than one percent, is great cause for concern. The pressure to see some form of economic vibrancy, which has generally eluded the country since 2008, has never been greater than it is at this point in time.
June 10,
2016 9572 9572
Article by Terrance M. Booysen
It is not surprising that many business leaders have become a lot more circumspect about their positions -- including their waning risk appetite -- as yet more draconian legislation enters the market in South Africa.
June 7,
2016 9511 9511
Article by Jenè Palmer
Forward thinking organisations have realised that corporate governance does not merely fall into the portfolio of the Company Secretary. Indeed, the draft King IV Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2016 (‘King IV’), describes corporate governance as “the exercise of ethical and effective leadership by the governing body” of an organisation.