The Durban University of Technology (DUT) was recently awarded the Risk Specific Initiative-Education Award at the 2021 Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA) Annual Awards themed: It is your time to shine.

IRMSA acknowledged DUT for the phenomenal role played in promoting risk management. Giving out the award to DUT, IRMSA noted that DUT embarked on a journey of deepening the risk culture within the organisation.

DUT serves as a benchmark to assist sister institutions who seek to deepen their risk culture. The initiative culminated in September 2021 with DUT hosting its first ever Strategic Risk Conversations on Higher Education (STRLC-HE) Conference. The conference was convened under the theme: Marrying the Science of Excellence with the Art of Risk (Leadership).

Once again in November 2021, DUT successfully hosted the Seventh Forum for Audit, Risk and Forensics (FARF) Conference 2021 themed: An Entrepreneurial Flair Within Each Initiative-a Thought Too Far Perhaps? The FARF Conference 2021 was held online, via Microsoft Teams, from Thursday, 18 November 2021 to Friday, 19 November 2021.

The 2021 IRMSA Awards acknowledged and celebrated excellence achieved by individuals and organisations in the risk management industry. The Institute recognised those who have significantly influenced the risk profession and stepped up!

Marketing and Business Development Manager at IRMSA, Ms Valerie Pillay said: “In the last year, we have seen risk professionals navigate their way through the very uncertain landscape that COVID-19 presented to us. However, IRMSA members continue to STEP UP in their risk management roles, and with their dynamic teams, ensuring effective and resilient organisations.”

Expressing his gratitude to IRMSA for the accolade, the DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Thandwa Zizwe Mthembu said: “The work IRMSA does to provide a platform of engagement and knowledge sharing in this critical area of organisational life, especially in a country that is a minefield of risks to business, the economy and every other aspect of life, is highly commendable.”

DUT Chief Risk Officer, Mr Sikhuthali Nyangintsimbi said this was the first time that DUT was recognised in the IRMSA Awards, occurring only a mere seven years since the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) was established (in 2014).

“The outcome of the IRMSA review of our institutional Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) maturity was 3.4 as the risk culture was 3.74, both on a scale of 1 to 5. Specifically, the fact that the risk culture showed up as more advanced than the maturity was a rare feat for any organisation, both within the public as well as private sectors. This demonstrated the impact of tone at the top, which is one area most organisations tend to falter on, as well as our collective impact in relation to the coordination of interdependencies,” noted Nyangintsimbi.

In addition, he mentioned that the two other aspects that contributed to DUT’s competitive edge, viz. the extent to which the DUT embraces thought leadership or benchmarking, as well as the quality of its governance documents.

• Being one of the benchmarking referral-points when sister institutions – and other organisations in the broader market – seek to benchmark on matters pertaining to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM).
• Stakeholder-centricity, on the part of DUT’s ERM Function, in line with a market trend where ERM Functions place more emphasis on understanding the risks and embedded-thereon opportunities from more the perspective of the University leadership.
• Seizing opportunities for hosting ERM-focused conferences and doing so fully informed by the reality that a higher learning institution is meant to be a centre of thought leadership; that innovation and excellence spring from the collective cross-pollination of ideas and continued embrace of the exploratory posture.

In closing, Nyangintsimbi stated that the ease with which DUT leadership actively supports initiatives when presented for consideration, including meaningful input provided with the aim of enhancing the impact of such initiatives, constitutes a trend very few organisations could attempt to parallel.

Pictured: DUT Chief Risk Officer, Mr Sikhuthali Nyangintsimbi and the DUT’s Risk Specific Initiative-Education Award.

Simangele Zuma