Page 86 - DUT Annual Report 2023

REPORT ON
RISK EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT THEREOF
The spirit of enhanced greatness and a stronger sense of optimism played itself out during 2023. Specifically, with Institutional Culture being one of the DUT’s strategic objectives, and risk culture an integral sub-component thereof, risk culture remained firmly on the university’s radar during 2023. It is because of how some of the key success factors (KSFs) of risk culture unfolded and shaped the DUT spirit of greatness in 2023, that the university proudly claims 2023 was an impactful year.
• In November 2022 DUT hosted a very successful International Fraud and Corruption Risk Conference. International and national speakers included Prof. Wiseman Nkuhlu, who was joined by speakers from Ghana and New Zealand. Our Vice Chancellor, Prof. Thandwa Mthembu also participated in the conference. This conference set the tone for 2024 activities of the DUT Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Unit.
• In addition, council approved the Strategic Opportunities and Risk framework for 2023 who was the 2024 line of march for ERM under the watchful eye of the Risk Committee, a committee of Council.
• Coordination of Interdependencies was shown when a significant proportion of mitigating actions to both strategic risks and other critical risks were implemented, which, for some, happened well ahead of the target implementation date. Similarly, the plans that were put in place to seize the identified opportunities strengthened the university’s entrepreneurial flair, even though not all such opportunities were realised. For instance, the structured SRC Induction Programme, as coordinated by the Registry, featured a broad portfolio of leaders from across the university. Leaders and speakers collectively sought to enlighten the SRC about the realities of running a university and the practicalities of shaping and preserving their own personal brand as the leadership of this country, thus, mitigating the risk of student unrest.
• Continual Learning and Improvement served to sharpen the competitive edge of the university. The Enterprise Risk Management Policy, which Council approved in June 2023, infused some of the new terms aimed at broadening the ERM lexicon of the DUT, further aligning the university with market trends, whilst also strengthening its position as a benchmarking referral source within South Africa’s higher education sector. In this way, this and other ERM governance documents contributed toward further strengthening training and elevating awareness in relation to ERM matters across the university.
• Open Dialogue was achieved with the institution continuing to respond positively to whistleblowing cases that were reported via both the university hierarchy and/or the external service provider contracted to administer the university’s whistleblowing hotline. The introduction of the 360-degree feedback, as spearheaded by our Human Capital Services team, and further capacitating the DUT’s performance management process, served to further ease up the appetite for dialogue. Another illustrative gesture towards open dialogue was the Vice-Chancellor and Principal, via ERM, commissioning a project aimed at sense-checking the atmosphere regarding potential bullying and intimidation.
• Regulatory Compliance Posture played out through not only the compliance risk profiling, undertaken
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DUT ANNUAL REPORT 2023