10 minute read
EDITORIAL DELIVERY
WE SIMPLY CANNOT IGNORE THE REALITIES ANY LONGER
It’s been 46 years since students across the country stood up determined to change the course of this country’s history and their futures that the apartheid government was determined to control and exploit for cheap labour.
The peaceful protest that started that day ended in violent aggression. Many students needlessly lost their lives, some shot in the backs by aggressive policemen. But the world nally stood up in solidarity that year, supporting the students by voicing their collective disgust for the repressive apartheid laws and rulers.
But even though more international sanctions were put in place and the apartheid government experienced ever-increasing instability as black resistance grew, it would take many more government-led massacres and another 14 years before some anti-apartheid political prisoners were free, and another 4 years before black
South Africans had the freedom to vote in a new political dispensation.
It’s been 28 years since that election; we have seen many black-led governments come and go, but the situation for young black South Africans hardly seems to have improved. High unemployment, a lack of access to quality basic services, education and schooling facilities are still a daily reality for our most vulnerable communities.
We cannot ignore the growing number of shacks being erected as our housing programmes across the provinces still are unable to meet the needs of our people, and we cannot ignore that many of our children still go to school hungry. We can no longer a ord to ignore the fact that while many government o cials live in luxury, their constituents are sleeping out on the streets, gathered in spots within our suburbs hoping for a car to stop and o er them piecemeal jobs. We can no longer stand by and watch the growing number of tenderpreneurs living their best lives when our grannies are struggling to feed their families on social grants that simply don’t cover their needs. We should not be happy to send our children to schools where they must trek across dangerous rivers or streams, use pit latrines or share one desk with up to four classmates. We should no longer be allowing our municipal leaders to blame everyone else but their lack of political will and integrity as we queue to demand that our communities get electricity, proper sewage and waste management services, and while we struggle with the ever-increasing cost of living.
We have our political freedom, we have a robust constitution and Bill of Rights that enshrines our collective rights to the access of certain services, however, our struggles, unfortunately, are still very real. While there certainly are pockets of success within our local government structures, it’s simply isn’t enough. And our nonperforming municipalities must surely be called out when they are unable to deliver basic services that our neighbouring communities enjoy.
While SALGA has endeavoured to ensure our municipalities are equipped to do the job, who ensures that they actually do their jobs? It’s us, the students, pensioners, labourers, professionals, the unemployed, and civil society that must demand that things change. And when they change, we must collectively ensure that we are good stewards of those changes.
In this issue, we highlight the challenges, but also take a deep dive into some of the innovative and brave leadership strategies in place within our communities that pro er a glimmer of hope that if we band together and employ ethical leadership, our future world can look di erently for all our people. ▪
Raina Julies
Director, Marketing & Communication:
Tebogo Mosala
Communication & Marketing Officer:
Marelda Boshielo Marketing Officer: Valerie Setshedi Content Writer: Bonolo Selebano
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SALGA National Offi ce Menlyn Corporate Park Block B 175 Corobay Avenue Cnr Garsfontein and Corobay Waterkloof Glen, Ext 11 Pretoria 0001 Tel: 012-369-8000 Fax: 012-369-8001 SALGA Eastern Cape Berea Terrace Offi ce Building First Floor, Suite 3 Berea East London 5214 Tel: 043-727-1150 Fax: 043-727-1156/67 SALGA Free State SALGA House 36 McGregor Street East End Bloemfontein 9300 Tel: 051-447-1960 Fax: 051-430-8250 SALGA Gauteng 3rd Floor Braampark Forum 2, 33 Hoofd Street Braamfontein 2017 Tel: 011-276-1150 Fax: 011-276-3636 SALGA KwaZulu-Natal 4th Floor Clifton Place Hurst Grove Musgrave Durban 4001 Tel: 031-817-0000 Fax: 031-817-0034 SALGA Limpopo 127 Marshall Street Polokwane 0699 Tel: 015-291-1400 Fax: 015-291-1414 SALGA Mpumalanga Salga House 11 Van Rensburg Street Nelspruit 1200 Tel: 013-752-1200 Fax: 013-752-5595 SALGA North West 56 William Street Witkoppies Klerksdorp 2571 Tel: 018-462-5290 Fax: 018-462-4662 SALGA Northern Cape Block Two, Montrio Corporate Park, 10 Oliver Road, Monument Heights, Kimberley 8301 Tel: 053-836-7900/8 Fax: 053-833-3828 SALGA Western Cape 7th Floor 44 Strand Street Cape Town 8000 Tel: 021-446-9800 Fax: 021-418-2709
The demand for more value from Internal Auditors (We) appears to have increased recently. To adapt to such expectations, we had to fi nd more effi cient and innovative methods to earn the title of Trusted Advisor and fi nd respected audience in board room.
Lately, Combined Assurance (CA) have become a “buzz word”. The value proposition of an eff ectively implemented Combined Assurance Model is to optimise assurance coverage, creating synergy amongst assurance providers. This synergy adds value by providing the Board and Management a holistic assessment of governance, risk management and internal control (GRC) activities.
Moreover, this value adding information contributes to better strategic and operational decisions.
The Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) who lead eff ectively, implement a CA Model that will earn a Trusted Advisor title in boardrooms. They will provide a structured approach and mechanism to monitor GRC activities. In addition, this is a demonstration by organisations which adopt CA as corporate governance leaders. To get to that level of trust, the CAE must ensure that all Internal Audit activities are founded on quality. The habit of quality is not only limited to what we put in, but also demonstrated by what our stakeholders get out of it. Like anything of value, combined assurance methodology must be founded on a well-executed Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme (QAIP).
Trusted Advisors appreciate that a QAIP is an imperative pillar of an eff ective CA Model that goes beyond the IPPF Standard 1300 compliance requirement.
Similarly, to the value proposition of eff ectively implemented CA Model, the above interpretation of QAIP encourages continuous identifi cation of opportunity for improvements. Ultimately, an internal audit activity, which is fi t for purpose
“A quality assurance and improvement program is designed to enable an evaluation of the internal audit activity’s conformance with the Standards and an evaluation of whether internal auditors apply the Code of Ethics. The program also assesses the effi ciency and eff ectiveness of the internal audit activity and identifi es opportunities for improvement. The chief audit executive should encourage board oversight in the quality assurance and improvement program.”
Quality is built into IA Activity
Governance Internal Audit Activity
Professional Practice
Continuous Improvement of IA Processes
Reporting & Follow up
Finding Observations & Recommendations
Communication Ongoing Monitoring Period Self Assessment
Quality Assessments External Assessment Improvement of QAIP Continuous
whilst continually improving, provides the important support for the CAE to effectively lead implementation of CA Model.
Like all valuable things, the effective implementation of a CA Model and a QAIP has its own challenges. These challenges depending on the organisation include inadequate tone at the top, imbalance of risk resilience and readiness, lack confidence in the process, immature GRC processes, insufficient capacity, poor quality of assurance, ineffective collaboration and unreliability of other stakeholders, unclear responsibilities of amongst lines-of defence resulting in irrelevant, inefficient and inadequate coordination of assurance efforts.
These challenges, difficult as they would seem, present an opportunity for CAEs to showcase the value of Internal Auditing to their organisations and solidify their hold to the title of Trusted Advisor. We as Internal Auditors must demonstrate the ability to effectively manage our own shop to be respected and influence the rest of the organisation.
The solution to these challenges also depends on the environment in which the CAE operates. A well-developed and effectively implemented QAIP will ensure that quality is built in to, rather than on to, the way the internal audit activity operates irrespective of its maturity or its size. The CAE who maintains an effective QAIP will undoubtedly be influential and his/her recommendations are more likely to be implemented. With that credibility and influence, the CAE can then make recommendations towards efforts to create an environment where CA can be effectively implemented. An environment in which there is organisation-wide buy-in, adequate ICT support to leverage technology, encouragement for a healthy risk management culture, clearly defined responsibility, sufficient skills to support adequate coordination and alignment of assurance activities.
To conclude, in my view it is imperative for CAEs to maintain an effective QAIP in order have influence needed to lead the implementation of Combined Assurance model. Moreover, the CAE should aim to achieve the rating of “generally conforms” to set an example and earn the respect of all assurance stakeholders. In addition, a “generally effective” rating demonstrates the quality of a CAE’s leadership of the internal audit activity.
To initiate this journey, an external quality assessment (EQA) review must be performed to identify the current strengths and weaknesses Internal Audit shop. This together with internal assessments will allow the CAE to systematically focus on areas for improvement and report on the achievement of quality. At the end of the day “Quality is everyone’s responsibility”.
Writer:
Bokang Modise, Mphil: IA, CIA, PIA, EO, CCSA, IAT. A multi-award winning Internal Audit Specialist, Director: Internal Audit Services. He is a QAR Team Leader for Leadership Academy for Guardians of Governance
References:
Cocks, G. 2010. Emerging concepts for implementing strategy. The TQM Journal, 22(3):260-266. COSO. 2016. Enterprise Risk Management: Aligning Risk with Strategy and Performance - Executive Summary. Davis, H., Schoorman, F. & Donalson, L. 1997. Towards a Stewardship Theory of Management. Academy of Management Review, 22(1):20-47 Decaux, L. 2015. Internal auditing and organizational governance: the combined assurance approach. Universite Catholique de Louvain. The IIA. 2009. The role of Internal Auditing in Enterprise-wide Risk Management. The IIA. 2019. International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing (Standards). IIA Research Foundation. 2009. Internal Audit Capacity Model (IA CM) for Public Sector IoD. 2016. King IV: Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2016.
Your Professional Development and Quality Assurance Partner
The Leadership Academy for Guardians of Governance (LAGG) has a team of specialists with the necessary proficiency, experience, exposure, and insight that was obtained through many years of continuous improvement in how to apply good practice in the internal audit profession. Our team’s professional input is available to you, to listen to your needs, to specifically meet your objectives, and to fill any of your gaps for as long as you need their services.
To find out more please visit: www.governanceacademy.co.za or contact: Unathi Mnyimba on email: unathi@governanceacademy.co.za
