IRM Covid–19 Global Risk Management Response

South Africa RIG Zanele Makhubu, CMIRM, Chair, Director Enterprise Risk Management and Business Continuity in Public Sector The impact of Covid–19 has exposed the level of poverty and inequality in the society and communities. The poor were the most vulnerable as they could not cope with the restrictions due to lockdown. It had impacted their low income to the extent that their basic needs like food, basic hygiene and other necessities quickly ran out and replenishing was difficult.

The Covid death rate and number of infected have increased daily with the level of exposure while containment measures are implemented.

Supply chain risks increased due to Covid–19 disruption - lack of proper protective equipment and required basic hygiene consumables across the globe were in high demand. This had a ripple effect on containing the spread and attending to the people who needed the assistance the most.

The virus has affected the economy and business so badly and its impact is continuing to hit hard as other businesses are closing down. Many people have had their salary cut and lost their jobs, because employers and business were closed especially those who are not providing essential goods and services. The unemployment rate has increased drastically.

The three to six months impact will be huge as there is no telling when the virus will be fully contained.

As the country goes into the winter season, there is a fear that it will peak during this time as the level of exposure will increase and more cases will be recorded. Extreme caution is required It’s difficult to compare South Africa to other countries as the virus has no favouritism. The impact is the same as the virus is deadly and affects people’s livelihoods.

The main concern is to save lives and the virus has taught us to invest in disaster management and disaster risk reduction strategies. Lesson learned is that it is a global phenomenon which needs coordinated efforts and resilience strategies that are well thought of. More awareness and training in the communities is needed and rehabilitation and reconstruction strategies should bring new economic development post-disaster that are sustainable.

Our country has a strong disaster management policy and framework, although at the beginning we did not anticipate that the virus would spread so fast globally. The President and his cabinet on realising the seriousness quickly assumed leadership and declared the state of disaster to contain the spread by closing all the borders and grounding the airlines, at the same time instituted the state of emergency by declaring the lockdown with stringent restrictions The consideration for operations was that the companies and government departments that offer essential services were allowed to continue to provide service especial in the health and social sectors.

It is critical for risk managers to also equip themselves with skills in the area of disaster management and business continuity management. The outbreak has made risk assessment a prominent skill and most sought after in assisting in mitigating the virus. In our country risk managers are called to lead in advising business and government in terms of risk assessment and business continuity management.

Business continuity steering committees chaired by Chief Risk Officers are directing operations and continuity of business to resume operations gradually in line with a risk assessment of the level of exposure.

As and when there is a peak /decline in the virus the risk-adjusted strategy is implemented. This has elated the importance of risk management and recognition of its value-add in prevention and proactive strategies.

Being a professional trained in ERM gives confidence and trust in the advice that you provide to your organisation. It also advocate for the risk profession to be taken seriously in the organisation.

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