Integrated reporting in the South African mining sector

Abstract

A string of corporate scandals coupled with recent environmental disasters and persistent socio-economic problems has confirmed that traditional financial reporting models are flawed. What is needed is high quality integrated reports dealing with financial and non-financial metrics that communicate clearly the ability of organisations to create and sustain value in the short-, medium- and long-term. This is especially true in the South African mining sector, given its high social and environmental impact, as well as the significant contribution that the sector makes to the South African economy. Accordingly, this paper uses an interpretive text analysis to explore how recent corporate governance developments have impacted the level and extent of integration of environmental, social and ethical-related disclosures in the annual or integrated reports of a sample of mining companies in South Africa. In doing so, the paper contributes to the general body of corporate governance research that has largely neglected African markets and simultaneously offers one of the first formal accounts of the impact of the integrated reporting project on mining houses on the Continent's largest economy.