EXPLORING RISKS IDENTIFIED, MANAGED AND DISCLOSED BY SOUTH AFRICA’S PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (HEIS)

Sa？etak This paper advances the view that risks identified, managed and reported by South Africa’s higher education institutions would provide a picture as to how those charged with overseeing South Africa’s higher education institutions, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, formulate potential events that could impact their operations. As such, the main aim of this paper was to explore the nature of risks identified, managed and disclosed by South Africa’s higher education institutions through the process that applies the content analysis methodology. Obtained results indicate that in all analysed categories, there was less than 50% disclosure of information relating to the risks identified and managed by South Africa’s public higher education institutions. Due to the fact that most higher education institutions indicated that they only disclosed their top risks in the annual reports/ integrated reports, it is conceivable that some of these risks were identified and were being managed by the higher education institution concerned. However, because they were not prioritised as top risks, they did not appear in the annual/ integrated reports. If this assumption holds, the manner in which risks are identified, including scenarios that are considered to get to potential risks is questionable. This is because risk is a long term concept, therefore; risks for instance, that relate to revenue growth and streams should already, in the period that was reviewed had been viewed as significant in light of the ongoing campaigns that seek to eliminate university fees in South Africa