Weekly Nuggets: No 1: 12 December 2025
Weekly Nuggets
Welcome to our weekly nuggets, where we share some insights from our work with clients.
This was a busy week. We had proposals to submit for a few public sector RFQs; we were chasing to complete our accounting work before closing off the year; we had executive and business coaching sessions; we even had a meeting with a client that we had been servicing since November 2022 to prioritise what we can continue to support them with because the amount of time and B-BBEE expertise they required no longer aligned with the fees we had negotiated – it was a wonderful negotiation that was quickly resolved because of long-standing relationship and needs-understanding we had built.
What I want to highlight is a performance evaluation we completed for the governance committees of a public sector entity.
Context
The governance committee's three-year tenures were coming to an end. The client needed an evaluation to help decide on which members’ terms to renew and also general feedback on how effectively the committees had implemented their respective charters.
Approach
We designed a customised approach after understanding the entity’s legal and strategic context. Our methodology consisted of three data collection methods:
· A qualitative implementation checklist against the charter requirements
· Designing an online survey with questions based on PFMA expectations for the Audit & Risk Committee, together with expectations from the charters. The surveys were distributed to all the members of management, the internal audit team, the external auditors, and all the members of the governance charters
· Follow up semi-structured interviews using a smaller sample, excluding the external auditors.
Once the data was collected, we analysed it and identified strengths and areas for improvement both at the committee level and for each member. We identified eight governance themes, including the composition of the governance committee (e.g., demographics, skills, experience, operational expertise), independence and ethics, risk management, performance management, succession planning (at the governance committee and management levels), communication, inter-committee alignment, and the effectiveness of individual members.
Outcome
We delivered a report that was essentially a master’s dissertation, including a bibliography and a reliability analysis (the survey had a 70% response rate). The most important thing was that we delivered a service that met and exceeded the client’s expectations. For instance, we identified areas of strength that should be safeguarded; we identified the root causes for areas that need improvement (including strengthening secretarial support); and we provided a predictive framework that can be used at the appointment stage to ensure that each governance committee has the required balance of ingredients for it to be effective.
Lessons for those who serve on governance committees
Although this exercise was for our client, some lesson points that may be useful to a broader audience. The client has reviewed this article and given permission for us to share, though we have taken measures to ensure anonymity.
We identified the following factors to consider when forming governance boards or sub-committees. The emphasis is on balance and not requiring any one person to have all of these ingredients:
· Relevant academic qualifications, relevant executive experience, or relevant non-executive experience.
· Relevant professional body membership and designation (e.g. for Audit Committees membership with professional bodies such as SAICA, SAIGA, IIA, ISACA; for Human Capital or Remuneration committees membership with professional bodies such as SABPP & IPM).
· Sufficient relevant executive or senior management experience, which enables the members to oversee and practically guide the executive team at the required level of seniority and technical understanding.
· Operational understanding of the organisation's business gives the board and sub-committees industry-specific insights and referral networks.
· We believe in ongoing induction of board members, together with their own personal pursuit of an ever-growing understanding of the organisation, its mandate, and its business context.
· This induction includes ensuring that the members and the chairperson are suitably equipped through training (this is often assumed) and role clarification; and, above all,
· Always be aware of the responsibility you automatically attract and carry for the organisation’s ethical tone, including building a relationship of common purpose with the executive team. Examples include preparing for meetings, contributing during meetings, and avoiding a pattern of small, unprofessional behaviours, such as being late to meetings, missing calendar invitations, not responding to official communications, such as emails, and adopting a tone that may not align with mutual respect between the non-executive and executive directors.
In Summary
We enjoyed the exercise and were happy that we added value to our client. We were reminded of the important role that governance bodies play in sustainable organisational success – regardless of sector or industry. The selection of suitable governance body members, the quality of their induction, and constant self-evaluation against their charter cannot be overemphasised. The chairperson of any governance body carries the primary leadership role, which necessitates intentional stakeholder management within the governing body, with the chief executive, other governing body chairs, and as a public ambassador for the organisation.
About the Author
Sazi Ndwandwa has been a chartered accountant since 2008. He has been leading experienced, qualified senior managers since 2014. He holds an MPhil degree in leadership coaching and serves on a few boards as a non-executive director. Sazi has a passion for sustainable transformational growth and acknowledges that Black Empowerment Policies have ensured that, together with relational support, his talents and work ethic give him access to opportunity, contribution, and recognition.
About the GoldOurs
We are a one-stop sustainable growth service centre, offering integrated services. We are a team of qualified and experienced subject matter experts. Our four service pillars are: Governance & Direction; Talent Management & Development; Accounting, Tax & Assurance; and B-BBEE Consulting & Training.
We are a level 1 B-BBEE contributor (100% black-owned).
