Guidance | Integrated Reporting SA

Guidance in South Africa

In March 2014, the IRC endorsed the International <IR> Framework, released by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) in December 2013, as guidance on good practice on how to prepare an integrated report. On 19 January 2021, the IIRC released the revised International <IR> Framework (2021), which was subsequently endorsed by the IRC as guidance on good practice on how to prepare an integrated report in South Africa on 24 February 2021. (For a marked-up version of the International <IR> Framework (2021) which shows the new content and deletions, click here)

Please note that today the term Integrated Reporting Framework is more commonly used for the Integrated <IR> Framework.

The Framework offers guiding principles for the preparation and presentation of an integrated report, as well as content elements of information that should be included. The Framework sets out 19 requirements that must be met in an integrated report that is in accordance with the Framework.

South African organisations should also refer to the principles and recommended practices of the King IV Code on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2016 (King IV) released in November 2016 by the Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) (effective from 1 April 2017). King IV highlights the importance of integrated thinking, integrated reporting and value creation, preservation or erosion and uses the definitions contained in the Framework.

South African institutional investors, and their service providers, should also be aware of CRISA, the Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa, first released in 2011 and updated in 2022.

Since 2014, the IRC of South Africa has released technical Information Papers and FAQs aimed at assisting the preparers and users of integrated reports in applying and understanding the Framework.