SA's top 10 risks in 2019

©Brian Jackson 123rf.com

Its contents are the result of surveys carried out with ±1028 contributors from a variety of business and risk related roles. It considers the top 20 risks at country level and the top 20 risks at industry level, and compares the top 10 to those in the previous three years.

According to the study, the top risks the country faces are:

1. Structurally high unemployment
2. Growing income disparity and inequality
3. Failure of governance in the public sector
4. Unmanageable fraud and corruption
5. Inadequate and/or substandard education and skills development
6. Energy price shock
7. Labour unrest and strike action
8. National policy uncertainty/instability
9. Cyberattacks (ransomware, algorithm shutdown of the internet of things)
10. Macroeconomic developments

Industry’s top ten risks are:

1. Failure of public governance
2. Inadequate and/or substandard education and skills development
3. Cyberattacks (ransom, algorithm shutdown of the internet of things)
4. Information security (data fraud and data theft)
5. Microeconomic developments
6. Macroeconomic developments
7. National policy uncertainty/instability
8. Disruptive technologies (AI, internet of things, robotisation)
9. Government policy, legislative and regulatory changes and uncertainty
10. Labour unrest and strike action