CGF ARTICLES, OPINIONS & EDITORIALS
February 15,
2017 10803 10803 
By Terrance M. Booysen and reviewed by Andrew Johnston (Director: Corporate Services - Sun International)
As Sir Winston Church famously once said, “There comes into the life of every man a task for which he and he alone is uniquely suited. What a shame if that moment finds him either unwilling or unprepared for that which would become his finest hour.” Undeniably, this axiom would apply when new directors are not properly inducted within the context of their new board environment and the affairs of the organisation.
February 9,
2017 9088 9088
By Terrance M. Booysen, Lucien Caron and Robert Davies
There is no doubt that directors in South Africa are being scrutinised for their role within organisations ̴ and far more than in previous times. Board and executive decision-making is being challenged in parliament and in court and, at the very least, some directors have suffered significant reputational damage for not being seen to have properly and diligently fulfilled their fiduciary duties.
February 2,
2017 8494 8494
By Lucien Caron and reviewed by Terrance M. Booysen
Increasingly, large and small organisations are under mounting pressure to manage regulatory compliance and their associated risks more effectively. Greater attention thus needs to be given to the organisation’s risk appetite and its risk mitigation, both at the enterprise and service-line levels.
January 18,
2017 9038 9038
By Terrance M. Booysen and reviewed by Osborne Molatudi (Partner: Hogan Lovells)
South Africa’s first black President, the late Nelson Mandela famously said, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” It is against this backdrop that the issue of racism needs to be tackled, especially in light of the recent racist utterances and numerous incidents of vicious crimes which have been perpetrated in South Africa under the guise of racial hate and the associated social intolerances.
January 18,
2017 11932 11932
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 9194 9194
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 9541 9541
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 10494 10494
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 172697 172697
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 9647 9647
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.