Integrated reporting in the South African mining sector and the King Report IV on Corporate Governance 2016

Abstract

The King Report III on Corporate Governance, 2009 was incorporated into the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listing requirements, which meant all JSE listed companies must comply with specific corporate governance practices and disclosures and meet compliance standards in their annual reports. The implementation of mandatory compliance requirements means that South Africa is leading the way by being one of the first country’s to fully implement mandatory integrated reporting. The global recession of 2009 saw the need for a new form of corporate reporting that moved away from the traditional accounting and reporting methods, as their failures contributed to the financial crisis. The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) was formed in 2010 to assist the framework of corporate reporting. The IIRC emphasised the need for reporting that would cultivate a corporate reporting environment that will focus on short, medium and long – term value creation. Integrated reporting seeks to achieve concise communication about how the organisation’s strategy, governance and performance issues, in the context of its external environment that leads to the creation of value the short, medium, and long term. The South African mining industry contributes significantly to the local economy and remains one of the world’s biggest mineral producer. Mining, is seen as integral part of local society as it impacts various sectors and industries, whilst managing investors and stakeholder expectations simultaneously. The need for greater transparency and reporting methods on social, financial issues is important especially where an industry, like mining, impacts all three issues. Since the mandatory implementation of integrated reporting, JSE listed companies have not seen immediate success with integrated reporting, it has been understood that it shall take time to comply and integrated the requirements and to remedy shortcomings. The mining industry is not only complaint with local reporting standards but also international best practice standards, the question that is raised is, whether the disclosure principles are being correctly applied to reporting in the South African mining sector? The need for cohesive, concise reporting is important, and as to whether the South African mining industry utilises all aspects of the integrated reporting principles, to its full potential, still remains to be seen. There are shortcomings and gaps that still need to be addressed, but there remains room for improvement and change. This paper will discuss the current state of integrated reporting in the mining industry and whether the implementation of integrated reporting is effective, and a further investigation on the failures, gaps and shortcomings that are faced within integrated reporting related to South African mining industry. This analysis of the following areas will provide information to whether integrated reporting is being utilised to its full potential by analysing the King Report IV on Corporate Governance, 2016 and the IIRC framework respectively.