SACAA Annual Report 2022_23

PART C I Governance

1. INTRODUCTION Sustained good governance has remained pivotal in the Board’s strategic leadership and oversight of the SACAA. It is notably reported in a plethora of resources that “regardless of region, the current global economic distress and turbulent markets are affecting the governance landscape”. 1 This also holds true for the South African landscape, as agility and the Board’s ability to respond quickly to a fast changing environment has become habitual. Sound governance practices have remained integral to the implementation of the SACAA strategy, despite the disruptive trends permeating many businesses, including the rapidly changing global environment, increased automation, greater oversight by Boards, more agility, and issues of climate change. Within this context, the Board has continued to make inroads into strengthening its governance mandate and has ensured that sound governance has remained dominant in SACAA’s ethos, culture, norms, practices, behaviours, structures, and processes. The Board has continued to discharge its fiduciary duties effectively, prudently, and efficiently, thereby elevating the trust, inclusion and accountability of the Board and delivering on the value creation expected from the SACAA’s various stakeholders. The Board has made informed decisions with its inclusive exchange of views by being robust, resourceful, and adaptable in its deliberations amidst the pressure to adapt to a changing landscape. The Board members continue to demonstrate ethical, and effective leadership, based on their distinctive knowledge set and experience. Governance remains solidly anchored, and it has constantly remained one of the SACAA’s crucial success factors.

The Board of Directors unwaveringly subscribes to the four (4) corporate governance outcomes articulated in the King IV Report on Corporate Governance™ (King IV Report™) namely: • Ethical Culture • Good Performance • Effective Control • Legitimacy These pillars have enabled the Board to bring its independent, informed, and effective judgement and leadership to bear on material and other decisions. A strong governance landscape is key to maintaining a good reputation and the development of a positive corporate culture. In the 2022/23 financial year, emphasis continued to be placed on the various governance tenets, including financial sustainability, stakeholder management, human resources, ICT governance, risk management, ethics, legal compliance and information and communication technology. These enabled the Board to alleviate potential risks, remain accountable and provide the necessary oversight to Management, while delivering on its strategic obligations to the Executive Authority. The entity, as a Schedule 3A entity, ensured compliance with the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No.1 of 1999) (PFMA). In terms of the PFMA and in line with the Civil Aviation Act, 2009, (Act No. 13 of 2009), the SACAA Board is the Accounting Authority, while the Minister of Transport is the Executive Authority and no incidents of non compliance with the PFMA were reported during the year.

1 R Fields & R O’Kelly: Global Corporate Governance Trends for 2023, Harvard Law School on Corporate Governance

96 I Annual Report 2022/23 I Governance