Page 9 - IRMSA Risk Report 2021

position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift –
“You have no enemies, you say?
a more human face.” We suggest that “that time” is now.
Alas, my friend, the boast is poor,
He who has mingled in the fray
In this report, we firmly demonstrate the need for South Africa,
Of duty, that the brave endure, as a collective, to pool its resources, whether those resources
Must have made foes. be individual, corporate, government or societal to bring about
If you have none, a sustainable future for us all. One of those resources, and
Small is the work that you have done. we submit a critical one, is our ability to manage our risk as a
You’ve hit no traitor on the hip, country. To manage that risk, we need to identify it accurately,
You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip, analyse it in sufficient detail, evaluate where it will take us if we
do not completely resolve it, and treat it as effectively as we
You’ve never set the wrong to right,
can – understanding that, for whatever residual risk remains,
You’ve been a coward in the fight.”
we will need to put contingencies in place.
We also contend that we have cut our resources to the bone:
Charles Mackay (1814-1889)
we no longer have the luxury of managing our risks in isolation.
Our ability to come together in a spirit of “chosen glory” is what
In December 2020, the Labour Appeal Court found it would will enable us to succeed. From a risk perspective, our ability to
be “unlawful for trade unions to enforce the wage increases, apply systems thinking and execute in a coordinated fashion,
which were promised as part of a three-year wage deal thereby saving as much of our capacity as possible to address
struck in 2018 but which the government said this year were the next challenge, is what will help us through this crisis.
unaffordable.” (Moneyweb, 15 December 2020). The basis
of this is the Court’s finding that the government cannot be The report strives to position the reality we face. Highlighting
compelled to borrow money (which would negatively impact the current and future realities our leaders foresee, building
all citizens in South Africa) to implement increases for public the scenarios we think may play out and understanding that
sector workers. our strategies will need to navigate those scenarios. Strategies
that depend on the unpacking of the risks that could occur
In this context, we submit that South Africa has run out of while we implement our strategies and understanding the
rope. We are at a point in our history, where we need to make appetite required to take those risks. We then need to define
robust decisions and we need to make them fast. It is time for the competencies that we need in order to deal with what
collaboration, but with the same end state in mind: not one we’re up against. Finally, we need to respond to the call to
where South Africa only belongs to all who live in it, but one action as a collective. We produce this report to contribute to
where all who live in it can prosper, united in our diversity. As the ability of South Africa’s leadership, the public and private
President Ramaphosa wrote on 14 December in his weekly sectors as well as its citizens to build a future where South
message, quoting Steve Bantu Biko: “In time, we shall be in a Africa and all who live in it, can prosper.
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