SACAA Annual Report 2022_23

PART C I Governance

9. CONFLICT OF INTEREST The effective management of conflict of interest remains an integral part of the sound ethical practices at the SACAA. The conflict-of-interest process is managed in accordance with the Conflict-of-Interest Policy and through mandatory annual declarations of interest by all employees. This is over and above the requirement that employees disclose matters of conflict of interest, as and when they arise. The declarations are verified by Internal Audit for validity, accuracy, and completeness and, where discrepancies exist, such discrepancies are subjected to further investigation. Internal Audit has the mandate to conduct lifestyle audits at any given moment where they deem it appropriate on all divisions, including Supply Chain Management (SCM). In addition, all employees within the SCM 10. LEGAL COMPLIANCE As a Schedule 3A public entity, and a regulator, the SACAA needs to ensure compliance with the Civil Aviation Act and the Public Finance Management Act, among other core pieces of legislation. The SACAA has an established legal compliance function that monitors compliance to the primary legislation as outlined in SACAA’s legal compliance policy and the universe of laws. Legal compliance activities are identified in the Board-approved Legal Compliance Implementation Plan.

department are vetted annually to manage issues of conflict. The Board leads ethically and by example. Accordingly, Board members are required to declare any conflict of interest on an ongoing basis. The Board Charter, read together with section 84 of the Civil Aviation Act, details the importance of declaring conflict of interest and contains prescripts for dealing with such conflicts. Board members are required to complete an annual declaration of interest and to declare interest on any item on the agenda at each Board and Committee meeting. It is commendable that all members duly completed their annual declarations, and no conflicts of interest were reported in the year under review. Legal compliance reports are submitted quarterly to the Audit and Risk Committee and monthly to the Executive Committee. For the year under review, the Legal Compliance and Governance Management Function implemented and improved the identification, assessment, mitigation, monitoring, and reporting of legal compliance requirements and continued to reinforce compliance principles as adopted by the SACAA Board.

118 I Annual Report 2022/23 I Governance