Page 163 - Department of Social Development Annual Report 2021

PART C: GOVERNANCE

1: INTRODUCTION

The Department is committed to maintaining the highest In this regard, the Department has four external risk
standards of governance in the management of public management committee members who have expertise
finances and resources. As a result, effective risk in the fields of Risk Management, Governance, Internal
management, anti-corruption and fraud prevention, Audit, Finance and ICT.
occupational safety and adherence to the Public Service
Code of Conduct are fundamental for good governance, Whether the Audit Committee advises the Department
administration, improved service delivery as well as on risk management and independently monitors the
performance. The frameworks and procedures discussed effectiveness of the system of risk management.
below are core pillars of the Department’s corporate
governance arrangements and are developed and Risk Management continues to be a standing item on
implemented based on relevant legislation as well as the agenda of the Audit Committee and reports are
best practice. presented to this committee on all matters pertaining
to risk management. This provides the Audit Committee
2: RISK MANAGEMENT with the opportunity to monitor the effectiveness of the
system of risk management and provide further advice
and guidance. Internal Audit conducts regular audits on
Whether the Department has a risk management policy the risk management function to provide an assessment
and strategy. of the effectiveness of risk management in the
Department and to propose areas for improvement.
The Department adopted the International Organisation
for Standardisation (ISO) 31000 risk management Whether the Department sees progress in the
methodology including aligning with the 2017 management of risks, whether this has transmitted
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway into improvements in the Department’s performance,
Commission (COSO) Enterprise Risk Management and if not, what it plans on doing to address this
integrating with Strategy and Performance. The DSD Risk problem.
Policy was reviewed and approved in May 2021 to guide
the risk management function with a strategy on how to The Department has conducted a risk maturity
respond to the risks identified. assessment and will be developing a short, medium and
long-term plan to improve its risk maturity to become a
Whether the Department conducts regular risk risk intelligent organisation. Furthermore, the focus
assessments to determine the effectiveness of its risk will be on strengthening the internal control
management strategy and to identify new and emerging environment and response mechanisms to mitigate
risks. either the likelihood of the risk occurring and or the
impact thereof. The Risk Management Unit continues to
As a practise, risk assessments are conducted annually engage robustly with all business units in the
with all business units to identify risks that could impede Department and advise to the Accounting Officer on risk
the attainment of the agreed objectives as well as matters. This will assist the Department to progress in
opportunities brought upon by the risks identified, to meeting all its objectives and improve the quality of
develop mitigation strategies to address such risks and lives of the poor and vulnerable members of society.
allocate these key responsibilities to applicable senior
managers. To this effect, a risk assessment report is
developed and approved by both the Chairperson of the
Risk Management Committee and the Accounting Officer.
Whether there is a Risk Management Committee that
advises management on the overall system of risk
management, especially the mitigation of unacceptable
levels of risk.

The Department has reviewed its existing Risk
Management Committee configuration to include the
ethics responsibility of the Department and hence the
committee is now called the Risk and Ethics Management
Committee (REMC). The Committee meets on a quarterly
basis to review the progress the Department is making in
addressing its risks, to provide strategic direction and
overall advice to the Accounting Officer on risk
management.

163 DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT 2020/21