ANNUAL REPORT 2012 - University of South Africa

UNISA ANNUAL REPORT 2012
The university’s policy with regard to
insurance and risk cover is set and
monitored by the Finance Committee.
The university is a participant in a
national consortium of higher education
institutions (TERISA), which provides
both cost-effective insurance
and service expertise. Consequently, it
is adequately covered in terms of its
insurance policy against fire and related
risks, accidental damage, business
interruption, theft and both
public and employee liability.
Risk maturity –
the way forward
ERM has matured from a reactive
stage pre-2012 to being viewed in a
wider context of identifying and managing
risks more actively and seeking
best practice. From 2012, ERM has
increased the flow of risk information
throughout the university, which in
turn leads to better-informed decisions,
greater consensus and better
communication with management.
This, consequently, translates into the
increased ability to meet strategic
goals.
Despite the evident progress, however,
the university acknowledges
that risk management is an ongoing
evolving capability. The remediation
strategy which the university has
adopted is an investment in continuous
awareness and improvement, and
it is hoped that the emerging positive
changes will inspire further action.
Some of the risk management initiatives
for 2012 include the following:
n regulatory compliance risk management
functionality
n similarly, as part of the culture of
sustainability that is becoming entrenched
in Unisa, an environmental
risk assessment and the
development of a risk register
n the newly implemented i-contract
management system also makes
express provision for all new contracts
to be loaded on to the electronic
platform after any/all high
risks have been considered and
recorded, ensuring that due consideration
is given to the risk environment
of any contract obligation
n preliminary engagement in a fraud
and corruption risk assessment,
prevention strategy and an implementation
plan, as well as the development
of a business continuity
management model. Both initiatives
will find traction in 2013 and
it is anticipated that the models will
be completed and implementation
commenced
n further creating awareness, embedding
a culture of risk governance
and improving the risk maturity
level across the university. The
challenge in this regard is that risk
management continues to be
viewed as an add-on activity by
staff and is not integrated into all
functions and conduct.
Advocate V Kahla
Chairperson:
Audit and Enterprise Risk
Management Committee
of Council
Professor D Singh
Chairperson:
Risk, Ethics and Controls
Committee
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