Management

Boards spend a great deal of time asking questions. They challenge strategy, review financial performance, interrogate financial statements and revisit decisions that made sense six months ago but may no longer make sense today. That is why one question stands out: "Why are executives and boards not doing the same when it comes to their cybersecurity?" My view is simple. As organisations become more digital, it becomes increasingly difficult to justify treating cyber resilience as something that sits outside regular business discussions.

The CEO of South Africa's highest-paying JSE-listed company earns more than 6,000 times the national minimum wage, according to data published by the Labour Research Service. Across the top 20 JSE-listed employers by CEO pay, every company exceeds 939 times that benchmark.

The Bogdanov ruling is not a story about one director. It is a test of whether South African companies can detect dishonesty before it reaches the boardroom. On 1 June 2026, the Financial Services Tribunal dismissed an application to overturn sanctions against a former independent non-executive director of a JSE-listed technology group. The Tribunal upheld the JSE's decision.

In many organisations, the monthly reporting cycle still follows a familiar pattern. Finance teams close the books, extract data from multiple systems, reconcile discrepancies and consolidate figures across entities. They then check reports, make adjustments and eventually compile a board pack.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are undeniably the lifeblood of South Africa's economy. They represent 91% of businesses in the formal sector and employ roughly 60% of the country's workforce. Yet, the entrepreneurial landscape remains notoriously harsh. More than 70% of South African SMEs fail between their first and fifth years.

In a tough economic environment where capital is scarce, we continue to back responsible entrepreneurs who build sustainable, high-impact businesses that create opportunity and resilience in South Africa. We have released our 2025 Impact Report. The report outlines the organisation's work in backing responsible entrepreneurs, supporting portfolio resilience and contributing to economic inclusion through a long-term investment model.

Small and Media Enterprises (SMEs) are regularly rejected for funding, even when their businesses are profitable, because the system was not designed with their business reality in mind. SMEs contribute around 40% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 60% of employment. Yet they face the SME funding gap, which is estimated at R350 billion. There is no shortage of funding in the system.

South African businesses have evolved alongside the reality of the country’s physical infrastructure challenges. Organisations instinctively build redundancies for power. These include solar installations, battery backup solutions, UPS systems and generators. When the grid fails, the failover system kicks in. Similarly, most businesses have multiple connectivity failovers because they understand operational disruption intimately.

Much of the current conversation around Artificial Intelligence (AI) focuses on technology choices. Organisations ask which platform to use. They also ask which model works best. In addition, they debate which tools will replace existing systems. Across boardrooms and IT departments, leaders race to decide on AI platforms, copilots, automation layers and infrastructure upgrades.

Leaders are expected to plan for the future, whether they operate in big business, small business, government or good-deed organisations. And they do. Leaders collate data across all aspects of operations. They compare budgets with actuals. They also make projections for the next six months to five years.  Leaders build detailed quantitative models and dashboards. Some projections include both positive and negative outcomes.