How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?
I subscribe to the “Eisenhower Principle” of “the urgent are not important; and the important are never urgent” in organising workloads and priorities. The four quadrants urgency and time management are essential to boost productivity. As General Counsel I am a member of the Group’s Exco which defines the broader business strategy which meets at least weekly and sometimes more frequent during periods of instability and crises. I have weekly and sometimes daily one-on-one meetings with my direct reports. This allows me to align legal strategy in real time with broader business strategy
What strategies do you employ to ensure the successful digital transformation of a legal department while maintaining compliance with South Africa’s data protection laws?  
An automated electronic Regulatory Compliance system was implemented which breaks downs each piece of legislation in the Group’s regulatory universe into separate, practical “tasks”. The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) is one of these legislations. The relevant employees are informed of the tasks to be completed, provides information on how to electronically submit a response and how to complete the task. Key performance indicators are implemented by deadlines for submissions and feedback and progress reports are generated by the system. Furthermore, any updates or changes to current legislation are automatically updated on the system and notification of changes are provided to the Compliance Officers as well as Risk Officers completing the tasks.
POPIA is therefore integrated together will all other relevant legislation in Regulatory Compliance system. The digital transformation therefore compliments and enhances POPIA compliance.
The Group has rolled out POPIA training via the internal Learning Management System platform. All employees are required to complete the training by 30 November 2024.
How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?
ESG can sometimes feel like a very abstract and theoretical concept to Business Units and employees. I therefore spend a lot of time on explain how ESG fits in, compliments or enhances the Group’ existing culture, values and policies. This is followed up by ESG Training and the implementation of an ESG implementation plan(“ESAP”). The ESAP is broken down into a practical and granular tasks with deadlines. The tasks and the relevance thereof are communicated in simple language to the relevant business units and employees .Iinformation on how to electronically submit a response and how to complete the task are also communicated.Feedback and progress reports are furthermore generated, thereby fostering a culture of joint accountability and achievement.