Our Governance

Governance as the strong foundation of SANBS’ business

Our Governance

Reporting frameworks, process and combined assurance

The overarching role of the committee entails assisting the Board in providing independent oversight of:

The effectiveness of SANBS' internal control environment through the assurance functions and services, with a particular focus on combined assurance arrangements, including external assurance service providers, internal audit service providers, management, and the finance function
The integrity of the annual financial statements (AFS), the integrated annual report (IAR) and other financial reports issued by the Company

The committee has executed its responsibilities in accordance with its approved mandate.

Monitored the enhancement of the financial control environment and supply chain management
Reviewed the work performed by the internal auditors, deliberated on their recommendations and ensured that any weaknesses were promptly addressed by management
Considered procurement expenditure in line with the Delegations of Authority Framework and recommended these for Board approval
Considered the procurement report including the progress made by the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) task team to identify and load contracts onto the CLM system
Considered reports from the Risk, Technology and Information Governance Committee (RTIG) in terms of existing strategic and emerging risks and mitigating controls
Reviewed accounting principles and their application
Considered the Finance Report including Management Accounts and Risk Report
Considered reports on solvency and liquidity/going concern assessment, non-current assets and liabilities held for sale, guarantees provided to third parties, capital commitments, movements in major provisions, compliance with banking agreements, non-operating items, significant accounting estimates and judgements, and forex loss performance
Discussed the forex methodology applied at SANBS, and the committee requested that the Forex Policy be formalised and presented to the Board
Oversaw adherence to all applicable legislation and prescripts
Approved the amended approach to inventory management based on the outcomes of the inventory visibility project

Considered, reviewed, and recommended the annual financial statements for approval by the Board

Considered and recommended to the Board that SANBS remains a going concern in the foreseeable future

Reviewed and recommended for Board approval the budget for the year ending 31 March 2025

Reviewed the effectiveness of the Combined Assurance Framework and internal control environment, ensuring that identified weaknesses were appropriately and expeditiously addressed
Interacted with management and other assurance providers in striving to ensure a reliable and effective control environment which will result in an unqualified audit opinion for the coming financial year-end

Approved the Internal Audit Charter, aligned with the new Internal Audit Assessment standards effective 1 January 2025, incorporating the revised reporting line from CEO to CFO
Approved the Internal Audit Plan and annual budget
Ensured that the Internal Audit Plan is risk-based and monitored adherence to the plan by internal audit
Considered internal audit reports together with management's action plans and provided oversight of appropriateness and timeliness of addressing control deficiencies, further improved with the introduction of a Web-Based Issue Tracking Tool and root cause analysis

Considered the external auditors' audit scope and plan following the appointment of PwC

Considered and approved the new external auditors' fees (including IT audit fees), non-audit fees, and established the auditor's terms of engagement

Considered the independence of the external auditors