Conversations in Business with RSM

RSM Director and Real Estate industry expert, Michael Steenkamp, chats to Steve Marriot, CFO of property group, Respublica. Michael and Steve discuss the current conditions and environment within the Real Estate sector at the moment, as well the challenges and factors that have been impacting this industry.

The business landscape is changing globally as women continue to break barriers across company types and industries. According to an S&P Global report, companies with female CEOs, females CFOs and higher gender diversity on their board of directors are actually proving to be more profitable. And according to Harvard Business Review, female managers often outperform their male counterparts in leadership competencies. Various pieces of research also show that women excel in crucial areas for business management, such as emotional intelligence, relationship-building and communication. The rise of women in business leadership positions is not a passing trend and is proving to actually be a strategic advantage for forward-thinking organisations. RSM South Africa CEO, Noma Ashom, and female leaders from within the firm, discuss the role of female leaders in the workplace.

Both local and global tax is changing rapidly, with the introduction of numerous new global tax legislations, as well as local legislative amendments. The tax position of an organisation should consider more than just compliance and should consist of a clear tax strategy which aligns with the overall corporate strategy of the business.

Businesses can no longer afford to treat ESG as a tick box exercise. It has become a business imperative. Suzan Dolamo, RSM South Africa's Sustainability Assurance Leader, chats to Trust Chikwiri, Head of Governance, Risk and Compliance, about the impact of ESG on business strategies, with a focus on risks.

ESG practices are becoming an important consideration for businesses across the globe. RSM's Thilen Pillay chats to Belinda Careirra, Co-CEO of from Sustainable DNA, around the basics of ESG and how this currently impacts businesses from a South African perspective.

As digital assets continue to develop, we are seeing more and more corporates utilising digital assets in their organisations. However, as it stands, the International Financial Reporting Standards are still unclear around their accounting treatment. RSM's Head of Information Systems, Thilen Pillay, chats to our Head of IFRS, Michael Steenkamp, around how we should be accounting for digital assets in the financial statements.

The ease of accessibility, together with the simplicity in which digital assets can be traded globally, has presented a unique challenge to tax authorities throughout the world regarding recovery of taxes from these transactions. RSM Directors, Thilen Pillay and Ozeyr Ahmed, discuss the tax implications as they currently stand for digital assets in the South Africa landscape.

The disclosure of directors' remuneration is now a requirement of the Companies Act. The aim is to ensure that companies comply with the principles of transparency, accountability and integrity and maintain high standards of corporate governance. RSM Legal Director, Phillip Kruger, chats to Audit Director, Henk Heymans, about the key considerations of the legislation, as well as the challenges they are seeing with their clients.

For businesses to thrive, the ability to acquire, merge and re-organise a business is critical and inevitably, these transactions trigger tax implications for one or both entities concerned. In South Africa there are specific tax rules dealing with mergers & acquisitions and corporate restructuring. All of these are aimed to defer the tax implications that would otherwise have arisen. RSM South Africa’s Head of Tax, Dieter Schulze, and Corporate Tax Expert, John Jones, give an overview of the special tax rules designed to assist with corporate restructures and mergers & acquisitions in South Africa.

Innovation is a buzz word that has been thrown around strategy sessions for years but the reality is that very few organisations are actually innovating. In this episode, we chat to RSM International's Global Chief Innovation Officer, Paul Herring, about the trends that he is currently seeing in business innovation.

In this episode, Phelokazi Nyangane, Head of People at RSM South Africa, chats to Candice Eaton-Gaul, RSM’s Global Leader for Diversity and Inclusion. They discuss HR policies of Hybrid working and considerations on the implementation of these policies in our workplaces. They also be look at some of the emerging themes that we’re seeing in this space.

Thilen Pillay, RSM South Africa's Digital Service Line Leader, chats to Jay Schulman, a global Blockchain expert and Leader for Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Services at RSM US LLP. In this episode, they discuss the basics of Blockchain, as well as the various use cases for this technology, and also take a brief look at cryptocurrencies. This podcast is the first in a series that will delve into this technology and explore the various areas of digital assets.

As Covid-19 restrictions continue to ease and many organisations begin looking at the long-term working arrangements of their staff, there are many new considerations around workplace policies, mandatory vaccination policies and the return to work. The importance of this has been further highlighted following the recent landmark CCMA case that saw an employee being dismissed for refusing to be vaccinated. RSM’s Legal Directors, Marc Humphries and Phillip Kruger, discuss this CCMA case and various other considerations for organisations around these issues.

RSM Director, Chris Maytham, chats to Maarten Turkstra, the Managing Director of Axess Africa, which provides energy and integrity solutions in the oil and gas, wind energy, marine and infrastructure industries Maarten is an avid rock climber who has turned his passion into a successful business. He is also the Managing Director of Skysite, an industrial and commercial maintenance and inspection business where his team can be seen performing various services while suspended from ropes.

What are the rights of an organisation when it comes to the vaccination status of their staff? Our Legal Directors, Marc Humphries and Phillip Kruger, have answered a number of the key questions that we have recently been asked by our clients around vaccinations, the workplace and the rights of an employer.

RSM Director, John Jones, chats to Rachael Madziwanyika, Chief Financial Officer for Buhler (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of the Buhler Group in South Africa. Rachael is a qualified Chartered Accountant who has been working in the finance field for over 20 years. Buhler is a global plant equipment manufacturer for the food and many other industries with operations in over 140 countries. It’s likely that you come into contact with a number of items that utilise their technology every day without even knowing it.

RSM Director, Gary Parker, chats to Mark Le Roux, Director at Hubergroup South Africa. Hubergroup is one of the world’s leading specialists for printing inks, coatings and press room chemistry and has been in business for over 250 years ago.

RSM Director, Michael Steenkamp, chats to Laurika van Schyff, a highly accomplished Chartered Accountant and the Financial Manager at Manitou Southern Africa. Laurika shares her insights on Manitou's road to success, as well as some business lessons from her own career.

In celebration of Women's month, RSM Director, Liz Pinnock, chat to the CEO of RSM International, Jean Stephens about her illustrious career and what she's learnt along the way.

RSM Director, Henk Heymans, chats to legal expert, Michael Judin, on corporate governance and the requirements for organisations and Boards of Directors in terms of the Companies Act.