At That Point
  • home
  • our story
  • our services
  • your resources
  • SA Industry News

Implosion of SA Tourism board highlights need for proper due diligence before directors appointed, says IoDSA

25/4/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture
The move by the Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille, to dismiss the board of South African Tourism has been well received in most quarters. Reasons for the board’s axing apparently centred on the Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship scandal, a spate of board resignations and allegations of sustained sexual harassment by board members. Minister De Lille in addition specifically cited concerns about the composition of the board and the skills, competence and qualifications of its members as reasons for her decision.

“The tourism minister puts her finger on an important issue that should be at the forefront when any board member is appointed. It’s vital that there is a clear understanding first of what skills the board needs, and then ensuring that the specific individuals appointed actually possess those skills,” says Vikeshni Vandayar, Executive: Governance and Corporate Services at the Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA). “In addition, the due-diligence exercise must ascertain whether the prospective director is a fit and proper person to serve on the board—as the Zondo Commission showed us once and for all, an ethical approach is critical to a board’s ability to discharge its fiduciary duties.”
The IoDSA has always emphasised the need for nominations committees to undertake comprehensive due diligence of prospective board appointees—and for prospective appointees to do their own due diligence of the organisation and its bona fides. The latter should not be ignored because board members assume personal risks through association with an organisation, and so need to be sure that its governance procedures, financial management, and strategic aims and objectives are aligned with their own.

In its guidance paper on “Governing Body Member Due Diligence”, the IoDSA also raises the issue of board members appointed by stakeholders such as empowerment partners, unions, communities and so on. The challenge here is that these appointments are effectively made by a third party, and so there needs to be agreement that the board’s needs in terms of skills and personal qualities are taken into account.

Organisations need to be able to contest the appointment of a director by a stakeholder organisation in terms of the desired criteria, the IoDSA says. It also advocates the signing of a mutually binding non-disclosure agreement given that the due-diligence process necessarily involves the sharing of sensitive information.
“The members of a board or any other governing body have a vital governance role to play and the success of the organisation hinges on their ability to do so. Principle 7 of King IV stipulates that governing bodies should have ‘the appropriate balance of knowledge, skills, experience, diversity and independence’, and a rigorous process to ensure that members are chosen with this in mind,” Vandayar concludes.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: Stephné du Toit, [email protected], 084 587 9933, www.atthatpoint.co.za
For more information on the IoDSA please visit:
Website:  www.iodsa.co.za
Twitter:  @The_IoDSA
LinkedIn:  Institute of Directors South Africa Company Page 
Facebook: Institute of Directors South Africa
0 Comments
    Welcome to the IoDSA Newsroom.
    IN THE MEDIA

    2023
    ​

    2 March
    Financial Mail: 5572bb70-29ab-48f8-b5df-79c7bb7f27dc.pdfIN 


    Archives

    May 2025
    February 2025
    November 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    702 Sun International CEO SleepOut™
    ABSA
    Accountability
    ACGN
    Advocate Fay Mukaddam
    Africa
    African Governance Showcase
    AGM
    Alex Granger
    Angela Cherrington
    Angela Oosthuizen
    Ansie Ramahlo
    Ansie Ramalho
    Audit Committees
    Auditor General
    Board
    Board Meeting
    Boards
    Budget
    Business
    CD(SA)
    Central Energy Fund
    CEO
    CEO Tenure
    Certified Director
    Chairman
    Chartered Director
    CIPC
    City Of Johannesburg
    Clover
    Companies Act
    COO
    Corporate Governance
    Corruption
    Cricket SA
    Delinquent Directors
    Director
    Directors
    Directors' Sentiment Index Report
    Disclosure
    Discrimination
    Dudu Myeni
    Economic Growth
    Eskom
    Eskom Board
    Ethics
    Executive Pay
    EY
    Fair Pay
    FEDSAS
    Fraud And Corruption
    Governance
    Governing Bodies
    Gupta
    Huge Group
    Institute Of Directors In South Africa
    Integrated Reporting
    IoDSA
    Johannesburg Property Company
    Karin Ireton
    King Code Of Corporate Governance
    King IV
    KingIV
    King IV Launch Conference
    Leadership
    Local Elections
    Management
    Mervyn King
    Mid-term Budget 2021
    Mini-budget 2021
    Municipalities
    Non-Executive Directors’ Fees Guide
    North West Cricket
    Parmi Natesan
    Politics
    Professionalising Directorship
    Property
    Public Sector Boards
    Ray Harraway
    Remuneration
    Remuneration Committee Forum
    Richard Foster
    SAA
    SABC
    SA Express
    SAPO
    School Governing Bodies (SGB)
    Service Delivery
    Shareholders
    Sikkie Kajee
    SME Growth
    Social Inequality
    SOEs
    South African Airlines
    South African Airways
    South African Forestry Company
    Stakeholders
    State Capture
    State-owned Enterprises
    State-owned Entities
    Succession Planning
    Sustainability
    Sustainable Development Forum
    The Ethics Institute
    The Institute Of Directors South Africa
    Transnet
    Trends
    Tsakani Maluleke
    UCT
    Vikeshni Vandayar
    Women
    Women's Day
    Zondo Commission

    RSS Feed

CONTACT US

office [at] atthatpoint [dot] co [dot] za
© COPYRIGHT 2025
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
  • home
  • our story
  • our services
  • your resources
  • SA Industry News