EO 065 – Jasper Edrich
Gobodo Forensic and Investigative Accounting (Pty) Ltd (GFIA)
Co-Ordinating Manager
Why did you attend the programme?
I attended primarily to gain knowledge to strengthen and broaden the anti-fraud and corruption and compliance services I provide to GFIA’s clients. I also saw it as an opportunity for me to contribute to GFIA itself by learning how to design and apply an ethics programme for GFIA. One service I’m involved in is showing our clients how and helping them to develop anti-fraud and corruption strategies, and how to implement them so that they work. Most clients are government institutions, and the anti-corruption and ethics strategies they have and the legislation that drives those are seen as ineffective, causing corruption to get out of hand. A vital pillar of anti-corruption is ethics, and government entities have to now focus on getting all their people to work and live ethically. If they don’t, the world is doomed. So we must all learn how to raise our ethical behaviour. I want to do this by applying what I have learnt on the Ethics Officer Certification Programme to our clients’ anti-corruption strategies.
Another service of GFIA is helping clients investigate or decide on contract awards and grant gaming licences. Here again, my view is that the reason why these are often seen or found by outsiders and the media as awarded unfairly or improperly may well be that the ethics of those tasked with deciding the awards may be skewed or even sometimes corrupt. So I want to help the clients ensure that their own people and processes are clean and run ethically. Now I’ve passed the EthicSA certification, I feel confident I can do that even better now, and with more passion. I am also ready to rise to the challenge of developing an ethics programme for my own organisation, GFIA. The reason is to ensure that we walk the talk 100% in competing for and then carrying out assignments like the ones I’ve mentioned, as well as the criminal and other investigations we do, the outcomes of which can make or break people and organisations.
How did the programme benefit you personally?
By focusing all the general management theory and practise I’ve assimilated over a 40 year long career, towards (not exclusively) anti-corruption and ethics. Also, learning about and how to apply all the new specialised ethics theory and practice taught by EthicSA’s highly scholarly professors. And doing all this with a wonderful bunch of good-fun colleagues really worked. It was all very motivating at the time. Now to apply it!
How is the course benefitting your company?
It will benefit the company as soon as the effects of a recent change in ownership and leadership have eased and we can re-focus on the way we work. We’re bigger now, and there is a need for us to systematically ensure all our people live and work applying ethics that match our values.
Interested parties may contact me at jaspere@gfia.co.za or 082 492 5350 if they would like to obtain more information on EthicSA’s programmes or the other services mentioned.