Governance

supporting and preserving value

COUNCIL STATEMENT

ON GOVERNANCE

The NWU is committed to the principles of discipline, transparency, independence, accountability, responsibility, fairness and social responsibility, as advocated in the King IV Report.

Accordingly, Council endorses the Code of Practices and Conduct, and the Code of Ethical Behaviour and Practice as set out in King IV, and has applied these in a rigorous way during the period under review. In supporting these codes, Council recognises the need to conduct the business of the NWU with integrity and in accordance with generally accepted good practices.

The monitoring of the NWU’s compliance with these codes forms part of the mandate of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.

A distinct difference exists in the roles and responsibilities of the Chairperson of Council and that of the Vice-Chancellor.

Statement approval obtained from the NWU Council on 22 June 2023.

The role and function of Council and its committees

As the overall custodian of good corporate governance, the NWU Council takes its oversight and guidance role seriously.

We carry out this responsibility by setting strategy, ensuring proper governance, driving compliance and risk management and monitoring the material activities of the university. The intention is to provide a sound foundation for the creation of value, long-term growth and sustainability.

We act in strict accordance with the stipulations of the Higher Education Act and the NWU Statute, which was reviewed and published on 24 June 2022.

For the period under review, under Council’s leadership the NWU continued to adhere to high governance standards while creating a value-driven governance landscape.

The composition of our Council is in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Higher Education Act and the university’s Statute.

Of the 30 Council members, 60% are external and 40% internal, ensuring independence in the governance environment.

Council members externally elected or designated		Council members internally elected or designated
Ministerial appointees	5	Management: vice-chancellor and vice-principal	2
Donors	3	Senate	3
Convocation	4	Academic employees	2
Community leaders	3	Support employees	2
Specific expertise	3	Student Representative Council	3
	18		12

In the interest of proper oversight and accountability, Council has a number of committees to advise it on all the relevant governance matters.

Council training

Induction programme

The implementation of the revised induction programme for newly appointed Council members continued in 2022. Feedback from Council members was that the induction programme was insightful and enabled them to get to grips quickly and effectively with governance oversight at both Council and Council committee levels.

Annual Council workshop

On 16 March 2022, all Council members attended a workshop dealing with the future of residential universities in the digital era and the global competitiveness of universities in a post-pandemic era; transformation and strategies to increase external income.

Click here to read more about the Council workshop.

Code of Conduct and declarations of interest

The Council Code of Conduct is binding on all Council members and is revised as and when needed, most recently in March 2018.

Early in 2022, the members of Council pledged their commitment to the Code through the annual signing process. All new Council members are also required to sign the Code of Conduct when they are appointed.

The Higher Education Act prescribes annual declarations of directorships and interests by members of Council and Council committees. We consider this requirement to be of the utmost importance to ensure absolute integrity in our behaviour at governance level.

The Council Executive Committee (Council Exco), in its capacity as Council membership committee, receives and discusses quarterly declaration of interest audit reports for Council and Council committee members.

Sanctions can be imposed on Council and Council committee members who do not comply with the legal requirements for declarations of interest. No such sanctions needed to be undertaken for 2022.

Throughout the year, Exco continued with the practice of regularly noting and discussing all declarations made by members of the University Management Committee and referring any enquiries to the vice-chancellor.