Some locally listed entities have not addressed corporate governance issues adequately in their businesses and demonstrate a general lack of constant evaluation of previous and potential business risks.
This is according to Xoliswa Motswai, Mittal Steel SA`s company secretary, addressing the World Africa Business Continuity conference in Sandton yesterday.
She said it was worrying that some local organisations did not constantly review corporate governance and ensure they covered other basic potential risks that could cause the demise of an organisation.
"It is the board`s duty to make sure they identify and constantly evaluate actual and potential risks upfront, thus preventing any disasters from happening," said Motswai.
She said there were three different aspects that managers need to consider in an organisation: corporate governance, risk management and business continuity.
[VIDEO]"It is critical to understand business and its objectives, and understanding that there`s a clear link between corporate governance, business continuity and risk management is key to good management," said Motswai.
She said corporate governance was complex and had been given many different meanings, not in essence but in details, and that was destructive.
"In a South African context, the debate has been [centred on] which corporate governance should be applied, and many organisations are caught between the Eurocentric and Afrocentric cultures," said Motswai.
"Although the organisation`s board and managers have different corporate governance issues to deal with, what is important is sustainability, and the most important role of board managers is to strike a balance between conformance and performance," said Motswai.
"Despite all the risks that organisations give attention to, what is common is the performance objective related to the organisation and all are equally subject to good governance."
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