Governance & board advisory · 01
Delegations of Authority framework
A diagnostic of how decisions are actually taken today, mapped against the enabling Act, the MOI or constitution, the PFMA or MFMA where applicable, and the board’s own resolutions; a tiered…
A diagnostic of how decisions are actually taken today, mapped against the enabling Act, the MOI or constitution, the PFMA or MFMA where applicable, and the board’s own resolutions; a tiered delegation matrix from the board through committees to the chief executive and downwards, with financial thresholds and decision types; the approval workflow and sub-delegation rules; a reservation schedule of matters that may never be delegated; an implementation guide; and a facilitated session at which the board adopts it.
Statutory councils, public entities, water boards, SETAs, funds, and any board recently reconstituted or placed under administration. A delegations framework is the first thing an administrator commissions and the first thing an auditor asks for.
Three failures recur. A framework that delegates powers the enabling Act reserves to the board itself is void, and the decisions taken under it are open to review. Thresholds set in rands that were realistic four years ago are now breached routinely and quietly. And a matrix with no sub-delegation rule means an executive’s authority evaporates the moment they go on leave.
The law it sits under
The framework this work answers to.
Delegation moves the power; it does not move the accountability. For a public entity section 56(2)(b) of the PFMA says so expressly: a delegation does not divest the accounting authority of the responsibility concerning the exercise of the delegated power. For a company, the board’s authority to manage the business comes from section 66(1) of the Companies Act 71 of 2008 and its power to constitute committees from section 72. Two limits run through all of it: a power the empowering Act reserves to the body itself cannot be delegated, and a delegate cannot sub-delegate unless authorised to do so.
How the engagement runs
What you are committing to.
The engagement starts with a diagnostic of how decisions are actually taken today, which is almost never what the current framework says. That is mapped against the enabling Act, the MOI or constitution, the PFMA or MFMA where they apply, and the board’s own resolutions. The deliverable is a tiered matrix from the board through committees to the chief executive and downwards, with financial thresholds and decision types, the sub-delegation rules, a reservation schedule of matters that may never be delegated, an implementation guide, and a facilitated session at which the board adopts it by resolution.
Three failures recur. A framework that delegates a power the enabling Act reserves to the board is void, and every decision taken under it is open to review. Thresholds set in rands that were realistic four years ago are now breached routinely and quietly. And a matrix with no sub-delegation rule means an executive’s authority evaporates the moment they go on leave.
Related pages, tools and documents
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