Governance sits at the core of the firm, supported by the financial, risk and strategic depth that boards and trustees need to oversee complex organisations with confidence.
01Effective boards, accountable committees
Board, Trustee & Audit Committee Advisory
Independent, practitioner-led support for boards, trustee boards and their committees — from someone who chairs and sits on them.
The challenge
Committees whose mandates overlap or leave gaps. Board packs that describe activity rather than enable a decision. Succession handled reactively. A board that senses it is not functioning well but has no evidence base from which to change it.
What we do
We assess the governance framework as it actually operates, not as the charters describe it, and redesign where the structure works against the board. Where composition is the issue, we support the search, induction and succession work that follows.
What the engagement delivers
A governance framework and delegation of authority matched to the organisation’s risk profile; charters and mandates with no overlaps or gaps; a board-effectiveness evaluation with findings the board can act on; a defensible appointment and succession process; and audit and risk committees that derive real assurance from what they receive.
Who it is for
Boards of public entities, schemes and companies · trustee boards · audit and risk committees · chairpersons.
Board and trustee advisory
Board effectiveness reviews and evaluations
Governance reviews and framework design
Trustee effectiveness assessments
Chairperson advisory
Committee design, charters and mandates
Board succession planning
Non-executive director and trustee search, shortlisting and induction
Finance functions that report accurately, forecast credibly and hold up under audit and regulatory scrutiny — supported by a risk framework a board can actually use.
The challenge
Management reporting that arrives late and is contested when it does. Forecasts no one believes. A risk register maintained for the auditor rather than for decisions. Funding conversations entered without a defensible business case.
What we do
We take an honest view of the finance operating model, the controls behind it and the information reaching the board. Where the gap is capacity rather than design, we can place a fractional or interim CFO or CRO into the role and run it.
What the engagement delivers
A finance function with a clear operating model and accountable ownership; management and financial reporting that closes on time and reconciles; a planning and forecasting cycle the executive trusts; an enterprise risk framework tied to real decisions; and internal audit coverage proportionate to the risks that matter.
Who it is for
Organisations preparing for audit or regulatory review, carrying an unfilled or overstretched finance leadership role, approaching a funding round, or rebuilding confidence in their numbers after a difficult period.
Leadership in the seat
Fractional CFO and CRO placements
Interim CFO and CRO support
Finance leadership transition support
Finance strategy and operations
Finance strategy and target operating model design
Planning, budgeting, forecasting and reporting
Management and financial reporting
Finance operations and process improvement
Funding, control and assurance
Funding strategy and capital-raising advisory — debt, development finance and growth capital
Internal controls and financial governance
Enterprise risk management framework design
Internal audit and control-effectiveness reviews
On regulated activity. Our capital-raising work is advisory: funding strategy, financial modelling, business-case preparation and readiness for investor or lender engagement. Where a mandate involves a regulated placement, an FSP-licensed intermediary is engaged for that element. Tembeka Advisory does not hold such a licence and says so at the outset.
Drawing on direct executive experience as both Chief Financial Officer and Principal Executive Officer of a major medical scheme — advice from someone who has led a scheme from the inside, not only advised it from the outside.
The challenge
A narrowing solvency ratio with the board receiving the picture later than it should. A regulator asking questions the scheme is not ready to answer. A sub-scale scheme facing a decision about amalgamation. An administrator relationship governed by assumption rather than by contract.
What we do
We work on the scheme’s financial position, its regulatory standing and its governance together, because in this sector they are not separable. Where the scheme needs the role filled rather than advised, we can take the Principal Officer or CFO seat.
What the engagement delivers
A recovery plan that will withstand independent review; readiness for Council for Medical Schemes engagement and inspection; a defensible amalgamation process and a real post-merger integration plan; a trustee board that can discharge its duty; and administrator arrangements governed against contract and service levels.
Solvency and financial recovery — recovery plan design, independent review of plans submitted to the CMS, reserve-building strategy and monitoring against plan
Regulatory readiness — preparation for CMS engagements, inspections and inquiries, remediation of findings, compliance reviews and audit readiness
Mergers and amalgamations — options analysis for sub-scale schemes, amalgamation process support and post-merger integration of governance, finance and operations
Board and trustee effectiveness — board and committee evaluations, trustee induction and training, Principal Officer and board relationship support
Leadership, oversight and strategy
Embedded leadership — fractional or interim Principal Officer and CFO, carrying real accountability inside the scheme
Administrator and managed-care oversight — tender design and evaluation, contract and service-level performance reviews
IT, cybersecurity and data protection — POPIA and cyber-risk governance for boards and audit committees
NHI and strategy — scenario planning, funding-model stress testing and board strategy sessions
Strategy that survives contact with operating reality — and, where an organisation is under financial strain, the stabilisation work that has to come first.
The challenge
A strategy that was agreed but never resourced. Costs that have grown faster than income without anyone owning the trend. A merger announced before integration was planned. Deteriorating liquidity, with the board receiving the picture later than it should.
What we do
Where the position is stable, we develop and prioritise strategy and build the performance framework to execute it. Where it is not, we stabilise first: cash, cost base, lender and regulator conversations, and the governance needed to hold a recovery together.
What the engagement delivers
A prioritised strategy with named owners, sequencing and cost; a stabilisation plan with cash visibility; a cost base reduced where it can be reduced without damaging capability; readiness for a merger or acquisition and a credible integration plan; and performance measures that show whether the plan is working.
Who it is for
Organisations in financial distress or early-warning territory, boards preparing for a merger or consolidation, entities whose strategy has stalled in execution, and leadership teams who need an independent view before committing capital.
Strategy
Strategy development, facilitation and prioritisation
Strategy execution support
KPI design and performance management
Stakeholder mapping and executive communication support
Turnaround and growth
Business turnaround and financial stabilisation
Cost optimisation
Rescue finance sourcing
Growth and expansion planning
Merger and acquisition readiness, integration and post-merger harmonisation
On rescue finance. We advise on sourcing rescue and post-commencement finance: preparing the financial case, identifying appropriate funders and supporting negotiations. Business rescue itself is a statutory process led by an appointed practitioner, and a regulated placement requires an FSP-licensed intermediary. We work alongside those parties rather than in place of them.
Governance and fiduciary support for corporate foundations, community development trusts and grant-making funds — grounded in our founder’s experience chairing a donor-funded community trust.
The challenge
A trust deed that is not being followed closely enough to withstand review. Disbursements approved without consistent controls. Funder reports assembled under pressure at year-end. Impact described anecdotally because it was never measured. Income concentrated in a single source that will not last for ever.
What we do
We strengthen the governance of the fund and, where required, administer its financial and compliance machinery — so that every disbursement is authorised, recorded and reportable, and so that monitoring and evaluation produce evidence rather than narrative.
What the engagement delivers
A governance framework and trustee board equipped to exercise oversight; documented disbursement controls and authorisation thresholds; compliance against the trust deed, PBO status and section 18A of the Income Tax Act; monitoring and evaluation fit for the fund’s objectives; and reporting that satisfies funders and regulators alike.
Who it is for
Corporate and mining foundations · community development trusts · public benefit organisations · funders.
Fiduciary and governance
Independent trustee services and appointments
Foundation and trust governance frameworks
Fund oversight and disbursement governance
Trustee and fiduciary training
Administration and compliance
Trust administration and disbursement controls
Grant fund financial administration
Compliance monitoring — trust deed, PBO status and Income Tax Act section 18A
