Rapid release of new technologies, the rise in cyber security attacks and the lack of good corporate governance have the potential to sink any city.
This was the warning from IT Governance expert from PWC Junaid Amra during his address of the City of Joburg’s Chair of Chairs Extended Cluster Meeting. The meeting took place in Midrand from 24 to 26 July 2018.
“A lot of South African businesses and organisations are moving to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system thinking it will resolve all their problems, but that’s not the case. Having a wrong IT system or software can result in huge revenue losses for a municipality. Equally so, the rapid release of new technologies poses a serious threat to any organisation,” said Amra.
According to Amra, the failure to practice good corporate governance by government departments as far as the IT is concerned could seriously lead to reputational or financial loss, lack of service delivery, non-compliance and risk litigation, increased cost, outdated technology, decreased value from investments and information leakage.
All the City’s Chairpersons of Section 79 Committees including some MMCs, the City Manager and senior officials attended the Extended Cluster Meeting for the 2018-2019 Financial Year Term in collaboration with PWC.
This is part of encouraging round table discussions with stakeholders, enhance accountability, scrutiny and good governance. The Section 79 Committees are part of the legislative arm of government, which hold the executive accountable.
The Chair of Chairpersons, Cllr Alex Christians said: “In order for the Legislature to be able to do robust oversight, the following key areas have been identified as vital for oversight discussions, this includes but not limited to the following: routine reports, capacitation of Chairs, capex programmes, budget process, risk assessment and mitigation. The discussion is intended to create a platform for sharing of information between Legislature Cluster Committees and the Executive.”
Amra said a lot of organisations that lacked efficient oversight face the risk of crumbling; especially in the era where the cyber-attacks on organisations were increasing globally. As a result, it was imperative that the Council provide political leadership and strategic direction, determine policy and oversight.
The Council must also ensure that the municipality’s organisational structure makes provision for the Corporate Governance of ICT.
