Tag: governance

South Africa completed its Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan and left the grey list in October 2025. The more telling test now is whether the systems built under pressure remain effective when no deadline forces the issue. For businesses, that makes compliance less of a regulatory exercise. Instead, it forms part of the infrastructure required to grow with confidence.

Fiscal pressure and rising scrutiny are reshaping procurement into a value-driven discipline. Global public procurement spending is estimated to account for around 12% of GDP in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies. This underscores the scale and strategic importance of how governments and organisations spend money.

Regulatory compliance in cybersecurity is no longer an administrative chore that organisations can treat as an afterthought. As digital ecosystems expand, threat actors are leveraging automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven reconnaissance and supply-chain attack vectors. Consequently, governments are moving from advisory guidelines to enforceable directives.

The local business news cycle has taken a dark and repetitive turn. Week after week, headlines are dominated by a relentless spike in organisations falling victim to sophisticated hacks, data breaches, and crippling ransomware attacks. From local municipalities to major political parties like the ANC, no sector seems immune.

Cyber risk is no longer a peripheral IT issue in African supply chains. Instead, it is becoming a core operational threat. According to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), 70% of organisations report experiencing fraud or economic crime. Cyber-enabled fraud ranks among the fastest-growing categories globally, according to the ACCA Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey.

South African businesses do not need to look far for a cautionary tale. The fallout from the Steinhoff scandal continues to reveal how weak governance, inadequate scrutiny of business relationships and unchecked transactions can destroy billions in shareholder value. What began as aggressive growth ultimately became one of the country’s most expensive lessons on the cost of insufficient oversight.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly moving from experimentation to execution within South African organisations. Organisations increasingly embed AI agents across business functions, including finance, customer service, IT and operations. However, a significant governance concern is emerging.

We note the decision by Cabinet to “finally close the historical e-toll debt”. This decision includes both the “close-out” of historical debt and the “resolution of all outstanding litigation matters”. The Minister of Transport has “welcomed the Cabinet decision”. This raises a question. Did the Department of Transport not drive this process from the outset?

Time has run out for non-compliant trusts. Since 4 May 2026, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has imposed administrative penalties on trusts with outstanding tax returns. SARS levies these penalties monthly. In some cases, penalties may reach R16,000 per outstanding return.

How do structural advantages persist and evolve, even in the wake of liberation? How does a country shaped by anticolonial struggle become fertile ground for wealth concentration alongside enduring inequality? South Africa holds one of the strongest constitutions globally. At the same time, it remains one of the most unequal societies in the world.