AFR SET SES

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.

Approved by the Executive Committee of Council on 26 June 2025 (as mandated by Council on 19 June 2025).

As the overall custodian of good corporate governance at the NWU, the Council sets strategy, ensures proper governance, drives compliance and risk management and monitors the material activities of the university.

In 2024, 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 2024, Council established two task teams, namely the Medical School Task Team and the Minerals and Mining Engineering Task Team.

In 2024, newly appointed Council members attended the revised induction programme.

Their feedback was that the programme was insightful and enabled them as new members to begin contributing quickly and effectively to governance oversight.

Annual Council workshop

All Council members attended the annual workshop held on 13 March 2024 and covering three topics: Taking a strategic view of funding of South African public universities; The disruption of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on higher education; and a status update on the implementation of the NWU strategy – 2024 and beyond.

Click here to read more about the Council workshop.

Special workshop

All Council members also attended a special workshop on 21 May on the alignment of the NWU's top management structure with the university's new strategy.

All Council members signed the NWU Council Code of Conduct at the start of 2024. Over the past few years, a 100% uptake has been achieved.

All new Council members are also required to sign the Code of Conduct at the time of their appointment.

The annual declarations of directorships and interest by members of Council and Council committees are of the utmost importance in ensuring integrity in our behaviour at governance level.

Every quarter, declaration of interest audit reports are submitted to the Council Executive Committee (Council Exco) to review, discuss and act on if necessary.

For example, Exco looks at whether any member was involved in approving transactions between the NWU and any entities in which members have an interest. Exco also cross-checks members' declarations against the records of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).

Sanctions can be imposed on members who do not comply with the legal requirements for declarations of interest. No such sanctions were needed in 2024.

During 2024, Exco also regularly noted and discussed all declarations made by members of the University Management Committee (UMC) and referred any enquiries to the vice‑chancellor.

Changes in Council members in 2024

Nine new members joined the Council in 2024:

Prof NN Kgabi – Internal member elected by the support employees
Prof N van der Merwe – Internal member elected by the academic employees
Mr J Bezuidenhout – External member elected by the Board of Donors
Mr CO van der Rheede – External member elected by the Board of Donors
Prof JJ Janse van Rensburg – External member elected by the Convocation
Dr JJ Faul – External member elected by the Convocation
Mr K Zwane – Student Representative Council – President
Mr R Coetzee – Student Representative Council – Deputy President
Mr O Sefodi – Student Representative Council – Secretary General

The following members re-joined the Council for subsequent terms:

Ms R Kenosi – External member appointed by Council for specific expertise (second term)
Prof A Verhoef – Internal member elected by Senate (second term)
Prof P Smit – Internal member elected by the academic employees (second term)

There were several vacancies on the Council in 2024, one on the Board of Donors and the others for external members appointed by the Minister of Higher Education.