IRMSA Risk Report – South Africa Risks 2022
Currently we are only just in the ‘Fake it until we make it, or not?’ scenario, which is where we have been for the past two years. What
is encouraging is that recently we have been doing some things right, although not nearly enough. We now have to urgently overcome
the current inertia to avoid a slip into the worst-case scenario of a ‘Perpetual hangover’. The challenge is to avoid regressing on any of our of our gains so far. While we are barely in the ‘Fake it until we make it, or not?’ scenario, we now need to focus on sustained implementation of what we have started. We need to leverage the progress we have made and translate our efforts into tangible outcomes. The threat and opportunity landscape is challenging, but we believe we are on the right course. We now need to demonstrate our staying power as a country and organisations to succeed. We need to leverage the progress we have made and
translate our efforts into tangible outcomes.
IRMSA Risk Report – SOUTH AFRICA Risks 2023/24
South Africa, like many countries, faces a multitude of risks in the years ahead. These risks range from economic and political instability to social and environmental challenges. In our case however, the failure over many years to address these risks in manageable bits, so to speak, has resulted in the country now facing a polycrisis (i.e. the simultaneous realisation of individual risks), with the potential consequence of becoming a Failed State (some may believe that South Africa is already a Failed State) or a Mafia State. Taking this reality into account as the country strives towards the realisation of its Vision 2030 goals, a higher level of urgency is needed to navigate these threats and opportunities in order to build a more prosperous, sustainable and inclusive future or in the worst case, to prevent a Failed State or Mafia State from materialising.
Allianz Risk Barometer – 2025
The 14th Allianz Risk Barometer incorporates the views of 3,778 respondents from 106 countries and territories. The annual corporate risk survey was conducted among Allianz customers (businesses around the globe), brokers and industry trade organizations. It also surveyed risk consultants, underwriters, senior managers, claims experts, as well as other risk management professionals in the corporate insurance segment of Allianz Commercial and other Allianz entities.
IRMSA Risk Report 2025/26
South Africans are experiencing new forms of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. As our own reality changed with the formation of the GNU, the world also changed significantly after the global super-election cycle of 2024. While we are already feeling the impact, these changes will continue to reverberate locally and across the globe in the coming years (not only in a political sense) – affecting the
resilience and sustainability of our
country, our planet, and everyone on it.
THE STATE OF CYBER SECURITY 2025 – Top threats, emerging trends, and CISO recommendations
The 2025 State of Cyber Security report highlights key threats, including: The AI tactics that swayed a third of global elections through disinformation.
A 58% surge in infostealer attacks, focusing on corporate access.
Ransomware attacks shift from encryption to data exfiltration extortion, with Healthcare now the second most targeted.
Hybrid networks enabling lateral movement between on-premise and cloud.
Hardware and Software supply chains saw the highest attack surge attacks.
Unlocking Opportunities: Executives Perspectives on Risks and Opportunities – 2026
The 2026 “Executive Perspectives on Top Risks and Opportunities” survey of 1,540 board and C-suite leaders finds strong optimism for growth despite persistent uncertainty. Leaders see significant revenue potential, with ecosystem expansion through strategic alliances and partnerships a key lever, while geographic expansion is approached more cautiously. Cyber threats, third‑party risks and legacy IT constraints dominate the near‑term risk landscape, and AI is viewed as both a transformative growth driver and a major source of security, integration and talent risks. Over the next decade, customers and competition, security and privacy, AI deployment, markets and economies, and talent challenges are the top long‑term concerns.
Anticipating Risks and Seizing Opportunities – PwC Risk Roadmap 2026
PwC’s Risk Roadmap for 2026 outlines how geopolitical volatility, rapid regulatory change and technological disruption are reshaping the risk landscape, demanding resilience and intelligent risk‑taking from leaders. It highlights macrotrends (geopolitical realignment, regionalism, declining multilateralism), a dense EU regulatory pipeline, and the need to reinvent compliance as a strategic, tech‑enabled capability. Seven “hot topics” are profiled: cyber security, AI, sustainability/internal controls, third‑party risk, supply chain, tax/transfer pricing, and people/organisation, each with risk drivers, red flags and board‑level questions to strengthen assurance, resilience and value creation by 2026.
Risk in Focus – Hot Topics for Internal Auditors – AFRICA – 2026
The report highlights Africa’s rapidly evolving risk landscape, dominated by cybersecurity, digital disruption, business resilience, fraud, and financial/liquidity pressures. Acute foreign exchange shortages, inflation, and climate-related shocks heighten liquidity risk and force short-term decision-making, especially in public finances and infrastructure projects. Rapid digitalization and a dynamic fintech sector create major opportunities for inclusion and efficiency, but low cyber awareness, weak data governance, and skills gaps amplify cybercrime and fraud exposure. Chief audit executives are rebalancing toward more advisory work, embedding resilience, culture, and governance into audits, and pushing for better tools, training, and board engagement to respond to these interconnected threats.
Risk in Focus – Hot Topics for Internal Auditors – Global Summary – 2026
The 2026 Global Risk in Focus report shows cybersecurity remaining the top global risk and audit priority, while digital disruption (including AI) and geopolitical uncertainty record the sharpest year-on-year increases. Other leading risks are business resilience, human capital, and regulatory change, with notable regional spikes in digital disruption (Latin America, Middle East, Africa) and geopolitical risk (North America, Europe, Latin America). Audit plans are converging globally around cybersecurity, governance/corporate reporting, and business resilience, with growing but still lagging audit attention to digital disruption, geopolitical risk, and human capital constraints.
KPMG Internal Audit: Key Risk Areas 2026
KPMG’s 2026 paper highlights an evolving risk landscape where internal audit must become more agile, tech-savvy, and forward-looking. Ten priority areas are flagged: cybersecurity, AI and digital disruption, data governance/privacy, ESG, supply chain, geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility, regulatory change, human capital, business continuity/resilience, and organizational governance/reporting. The report stresses stronger assurance over AI ethics and bias, geopolitical exposure, continuity planning, and regulatory compliance, alongside deeper coverage of soft controls, culture, and talent. KPMG positions co-/outsourced internal audit support and specialist SMEs as levers to strengthen audit quality and coverage.