I’ve heard quite a bit about Nigel Payne over the years. All of it good. Yesterday I got to meet him at Nkonki’s annual conference for audit committee members, a sector where he’s the closest thing they have to a rock star. He didn’t disappoint.
If you’ve never come across Payne before, it’s because outside of his own field he prefers flying under the radar. But you’ve surely heard of the companies he’s involved with – Â chairman of super-successful clothing discounter Mr Price; audit committee chairman at both Bidvest and the JSE Ltd. Member of the King Commission. Get the picture?
Here are some of the pearls he left us with yesterday. Before a director accepts a position to join an Audit Committee, he says, they should think long and hard whether they’re qualified to do so. Signing off the Audit Report makes all members jointly and severally liable. In this case, signing off something you don’t fully understand could cost you all your assets. Seriously.
Three years ago, the outspoken Payne was threatened with libel by Hitachi for publicly expressing views on how it secured the Medupi contract (kyk hoe lyk dit nou?). He shrugged it off, as you’d expect from someone who says Audit Committee members need courage – suggesting they use Public Protector Thuli Madonsela as a role model. Shouldn’t we all?
