Team size: 15

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?

Periods of instability, I believe, are the most important time to properly manage legal aspects. This is when I maintain super close engagement with key business stakeholders. I pre-empt risks that may brew during these periods of instability and crisis. My Legal strategy is centred around managing key legal risks such as contractual, litigation, intellectual property and competitition law. It is imperative at this time to continuously engage external legal partners. My strategy of legal risk management is designed to ensure stable and long term realisation of the business strategy. This strategy has to be proactive and it must align to the organisations overall strategy. The key to managing legal aspects involves clear legal risk management assessments, a sound stakeholder communication stray, a firm and well supported legal team that will manage any crisis during this period, ongoing training regarding the key issues that may manifest during this period, and ongoing crises management reviews.
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?
As a General Counsel, it is imperative to understand that technology won’t replace lawyers, but lawyers that don’t adopt technology will go extinct. This has to be part of my legal strategy. Firstly, establish the needs of the legal department and then do an audit to establish which processes / areas require digital transformation. Once done, refer to the laws and regulations that may be impacted by these changes. The glaring legislation would be POPIA and to a lesser degree, the Cybercrimes Act. You can then develop a Regulatory Universe and Compliance Policy to apply when implementing new technology within the legal department. You can then leverage of technology service providers, hardware and software partners. Use them to train the staff within the legal department and then implement and ensure there’s a sound contractual arrangement in place with these entities. I would then measure the service levels and performance post implantation through regular resilience testing as well as feedback from the lawyers within the legal department.
In your opinion, what are the main trends that are salient in your country currently?
South Africa is currently in a bubble with the implementation of the Government of National Unity. This has created global trust as seen by the improved credit ratings, but on the converse, some form of distrust domestically by former liberation politicians who believe that the ANC has neglected the needs of the general population. This has seen the growth of a ‘breakaway’ faction of the ANC known as the MKP. This creates a possible salient issue of civil unrest.
The land reform issue remains a salient issue, coupled with reforms in health (NHI) and education (BELA). These matters, if not addressed effectively, may cause strife within South Africa. Unemployment and inequality remain salient issues as well. The slow economic growth of less than 2% is also exacerbating the issue of inequality, unemployment and poverty. This also creates a doubt for foreign investors as the worker culture is perceived to be inexperienced, lazy, volatile and expensive.
Judicial independence remains highly contested across various members of the political and civil society. Water scarcity, as South Africa is highly dependent on the Lesotho Highlands, remains an issue. Crime, with high levels of women abuse, is also a salient issue. Energy supply, albeit slightly addressed at the moment, remains an issue. Race division is also an elephant in the South African room.