January 13, 2005
By Thomas Thale
PHYLLIS MABASA, who hails from Soweto, is a woman entrusted with a very big job: it falls to her to safeguard the City's estimated R14-billion asset portfolio against damage or loss. And she has to protect the City against claims from third parties.
Mabasa - the newly appointed chief risk officer in the department of Risk Finance Services, formerly the insurance branch - says her duties are to manage the City's current and emerging risks. She also has to promote risk awareness in all departments and units.
Mabasa, who holds a BSc in chemistry and a post-graduate diploma in marketing from the University of Cape Town, says she fell in love with insurance when she worked for Alexander Forbes in Stellenbosch.
"Before then, I didn't know anything about insurance but within a month I really liked it and I proceeded to write insurance exams."
She went on to obtain an advanced diploma in insurance from the Insurance Institute of South Africa and later worked for Vikela Marsh, where she consulted for the City of Johannesburg.
One of her department's major responsibilities is the management of all claims against the City.
"We are the first port of call for all claims against the council," explains Mabasa.
"In looking at claims, we assess and establish the validity of claims in accordance with policies in place. Based on that, we could either settle or repudiate a claim, as well as supporting the business in corrective interventions."
But Mabasa is quick to point out that the unit has moved away from merely handling claims, to actively managing all risks to which the City could be exposed.
"The trend in the industry is towards an integrated approach to risk management. Our task now incorporates the entire risk profile of the City - anything that can negatively impact on the City."
Indeed - as a provider of services such as electricity, water and refuse removal to more than a million households and hundreds of businesses - the City of Johannesburg is exposed to claims from a variety of sources.
Mabasa says one of her major responsibilities is to ensure that the City's assets and liabilities are optimally managed and protected. "We identify risks and then implement risk-control measures."
According to Mabasa, the City has a contingency policy for non-catastrophe or predictable incidents.
"If the risk is inappropriate for the City to carry, such as third-party liabilities, we consider acquiring insurance."
Mabasa estimates that 98% of claims against the City fall within the limit of the contingency policy.
Mabasa says her 17 employees are building capacity to manage the City's risks and exposure; she is confident that she has put together a qualified and experienced team.
"We currently have five underwriters who participate on the asset portfolio, including the international market."
Mabasa identifies the major risks facing the City as being strategic, physical, operational, human, environmental and third-party liability exposure.
In the context of the City, strategic risks are those that emanate from high-level decisions that could have an adverse effect on the City.
Physical risks are those risks potentially posed by structures owned by the City.
Operational risks are those that could emanate from the City's failure to ensure business continuity and carry out its operations diligently. "It could be a waste-water treatment facility not working properly, resulting in the effluent not adhering to legislative requirements."
Human risks would be those arising out of dealing with a high number of people. Mabasa lists labour relations and health and safety issues as examples.
She adds that her department is there to develop and implement mitigating strategies. Some of the measures that could be taken, says Mabasa, could be putting tracking systems in vehicles and locking up assets.
Her primary goal for the year is to develop a comprehensive risk-management strategy for the entire City.
"Risks are not static. The challenge that faces me is to ensure that whatever strategies I put in place are current and cost effective. The business environment is ever-changing; so is the legal environment."
Mabasa sees her immediate challenge as being to set up a risk-management committee made up of all risk managers and people involved with risk management in the City.
"I have to consolidate these structures to avoid duplication and ensure that there's a holistic and integrated approach to risk management in the City.
"Risk management is paramount and it has to be included in our planning, actions, processes and decision-making."
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
