Advancing integrated reporting and integrated thinking in South Africa

Leigh is the Chief Executive Officer and one of the founders of the Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa and Chair of its Working Group. She has been deeply involved in integrated reporting in South Africa and internationally.

She was part of the technical team that developed the International Integrated Reporting Council’s International <IR> Framework (released in 2013) and, as a member of the Framework Board, contributed to its update in 2021. She was a member of the Integrated Reporting and Connectivity Council and currently a member of the Integrated Reporting Community Leaders forum of the IFRS Foundation.

Leigh has co-authored three books with Professor Mervyn King: Integrate: Doing Business in the 21st Century (Juta) and The Healthy Company (Juta 2021) and The Healthy Company: The power of Integrated Thinking (Juta 2026), and has contributed to numerous publications internationally.

Abby is Associate Partner at Ernst & Young (EY) and part of the corporate reporting team. She has over 20 years’ experience, including reviewing financial statements for IFRS compliance and dealing with complex IFRS and reporting matters.

She is a key member of the team responsible for EY’s Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards and is responsible for EY’s Integrated Reporting Benchmarking services. Abby is a member of EY’s EMEIA working group on sustainability disclosures, navigating the outcome of the ISSB’s sustainability reporting requirements.

Charmane has extensive experience developed over two decades in advising clients and producing sustainability and integrated reports, primarily in the resources sector, for companies listed all over the world. She has supported the development of numerous reports, ensuring alignment with stakeholder needs and reporting standards. Her scope of work has increased to include materiality and double materiality assessments.

Charmane founded Russell & Associates Strategic Communications, and before that, she was Senior Divisional Manager at AngloGold Limited and Head: Group Corporate Communications at Anglo American.

Corli is a Senior Specialist Consultant for the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, developing guidance and supporting capacity building for global stock exchanges around a range of sustainability themes. She is also an associate of Six Capitals ESG Advisory and has served on the CGISA Integrated Reporting Awards judging panel since 2018.

Her career spans more than 20 years in capital markets and sustainability initiatives, including leading the JSE’s sustainability work and positioning, and managing the JSE’s Socially Responsible Investment Index development and evolution. Since 2017, she has been consulting to clients across corporate and non-corporate sectors, locally and globally, in a range of ESG-related strategic research, analysis and advisory services. She has served on the IRC Board and the GRI Global Sustainability Standards Board (2019 to 2024).

Desiree is a Chartered Accountant with over 10 years’ experience in stakeholder engagement, ESG, investor relations, risk, and integrated reporting. She founded Alchemy Creative Studios after serving as Senior Manager at Standard Bank.

Dirk works with the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa’s Learning Academy. He has over 14 years’ experience in enterprise risk management, corporate governance and internal control. He has a special interest in integrated reporting and organisational sustainability, as well as the evolving role of the internal audit function.

Esha is Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability for sub-Saharan Africa at DP World and former Executive Vice President: Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations at Imperial Logistics. She is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2022) and a member of Harvard Kennedy School’s Women Leadership board. As a seasoned board member, she has served on the boards of NBI, Unjani Clinics, Imperial & Motus Community Trust and the World Economic Forum’s New Champions South Africa.

She has over 16 years of leadership experience in investor relations, corporate affairs, strategy, communications, government relations and sustainability. Her previous roles include Head of Investor Relations at Imperial Holdings, Kumba Iron Ore and Harmony Gold Mining. Esha is a founding member of the Investor Relations Society of South Africa.

Jayne has worked in corporate governance, sustainable development, and climate change since 2002 across a variety of industries including mining, oil and gas, banking, insurance, telecommunications, technology, construction, real estate, and state-owned entities. Jayne’s focus is on developing and delivering services in sustainable development strategy, integrated reporting and management, social and environmental impact measurement, and climate change risk and resilience.

She has authored various articles, presented at numerous conferences, co-authored The Company Director’s Handbook, and contributed to SAICA’s Green II. She was a member of the Institute of Directors’ Sustainable Development Forum, the IRC Board and the NBI’s Advisory Committee on Environment and Sustainability. She is a member of the King sub-committee on climate change.

Johan is a qualified attorney and is Vice President Legal: Energy Business at Sasol. He joined Sasol in 1996 and led several portfolios, including Strategic Planning at Sasol Oil. He has held international assignments in China and Canada (as part of Sasol Synfuels International). He has also led interdisciplinary teams on climate change policy, regulatory response, sustainability and integrated reporting.

Karin has over 25 years’ experience in sustainable development at corporate, national and international levels. She is an experienced non-executive director and has served on the boards of listed, not-for-profit and state-owned entities. She chaired the Institute of Directors’ Sustainable Development Forum from 2009 until 2019. She has held executive roles in the energy, mining and banking sectors and was a sustainability pioneer in each of those roles.

She currently consults to international and local organisations. Karin served as Chair of the GRI’s 45-member international Stakeholder Council and as a member of the GRI board (ex officio). She was a lead author of the Principles for Responsible Banking by UNEP FI in 2019, the South African National Treasury Draft Technical Paper on Financing a Sustainable Economy in 2020, and a 2016 paper published by the UN Environment Programme on sustainability reporting by government agencies across several countries.

Lee has over 19 years’ sustainability and commercial experience. She is an experienced sustainability advisor and has various business and sustainability credentials. She has experience in applying sustainability-based thinking in management consulting, investment management, retirement planning, manufacturing, energy, mining, construction, aviation, real estate investment and infrastructure development.

She is currently with the Alexander Forbes Group and has served on the LEAP Science & Maths Schools board for 10 years, including as Chair of LEAP’s remuneration committee.

Lelanie participated in the pilot programme of the IIRC’s International <IR> Framework from 2011 to 2014. Having led an award-winning reporting team and facilitated reporting discussions in South Africa, the Netherlands, Moscow and Mumbai, she joined GreymatterFinch as a Reporting Strategist in 2014.

Since then, she has collaborated with local and international companies to determine fit-for-purpose reporting strategies and has worked systematically to enhance all aspects of their interim and annual reporting and disclosures. She is a technical expert on the Integrated Reporting Framework and was a member of the IIRC’s Specialist Panel (2018 – 2020) and SAICA’s Integrated Thinking Project Group in 2015.

Her earlier career included PwC, Al Naboodah Construction Group (as Financial Manager), and Eskom Holdings SOC Limited (as General Manager of Financial and Management Reporting).

Loshni is the Chief Sustainability Officer at the JSE. Her role focuses on the JSE’s sustainability efforts, measuring ESG metrics for its listed clientele and reinforcing the bourse’s ongoing ambitions for transformation, improved regulation and building a more sustainable future. Loshni represents the JSE on various industry advisory panels related to sustainability, responsible investing and climate change internationally.

She has decades of multi-sectoral experience, from process engineering to her more recent consultative positions, including integrated thinking required for ESG strategies.

Mark is an independent consultant who recently retired from Deloitte as Partner in Assurance Services. He has 35 years’ experience in professional services. He has worked with over 150 organisations on IFRS financial reporting and integrated reporting processes and systems.

He has extensive experience in the development of integrated reporting processes, methodologies, report production, integrated assurance, King IV governance disclosures, strategy, performance reporting, risk management, stakeholder engagement, governance, and remuneration application.

Mohamed is an admitted attorney and has held several positions at Eskom SOC Ltd in professional and management roles. He joined ArcelorMittal South Africa as General Counsel and GM Regulatory Affairs. He has experience in executive management, legal and compliance, ethics, corporate governance, sustainability and integrated reporting.

He has been a member of the King Committee on Corporate Governance for many years and served on the King IV task team and King V advisory team. He was also Chair of the Ethics Institute board and currently serves as the lead independent director. He co-authored The Power of Governance: Enhancing the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises (2005) with Dr Reuel Khoza.

Omar is an audit partner with extensive experience in statutory audits across complex financial services and public interest entities. He has delivered numerous large external audit engagements and provided independent assurance on pre-listing statements for organisations preparing for capital market transactions. Omar also has significant expertise in sustainability assurance.

He previously served on the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors Sustainability Committee, where he contributed to the development of South African Assurance Engagements Practice Statement 1. He was part of the Auditor-General of South Africa’s Audit Research and Development unit, advising on public sector reporting frameworks and supporting enhancements to audit methodology. Omar is a member of SAICA and IRBA.

Ronel is a partner in PwC’s Corporate Reporting Services Division, where she leads initiatives to fulfil the division’s strategy of upholding quality through assurance engagement team support. She is a member of the PwC Global CRS team, specialising in IFRS and sustainability reporting.

She is part of several PwC sub-committees currently drafting firm-wide guidance on sustainability reporting and is responsible for coordinating the annual PwC corporate reporting training curriculum. She is also responsible for sign-off on the IFRS compliance of financial statements and interim report reviews of several listed companies.

Scott is a director in the business sustainability team at Forvis Mazars. His expertise includes sustainable development assurance, integrated reporting, climate advisory, and broader sustainability consulting. He has extensive experience in the mining, energy, and financial services industries. Scott has contributed to various thought leadership publications throughout his career and has participated in COP27, COP28 and the United Nations Young Sustainability Innovation Programme. In addition to his membership of the IRC Working Group, Scott is a member of the SAICA sustainability technical committee and the Chief Financial Officer Forum ESG sub-committee.

Shaheed is a partner at KPMG South Africa and serves as ESG Assurance Lead at KPMG Southern Africa, and is the engagement partner and quality reviewer on several listed ESG assurance engagements. In his technical accounting role, Shaheed performs reviews of financial statements for several listed companies and is involved in complex accounting and reporting queries.

Shaheed is also a member of the IRBA Sustainability Standing Committee and various KPMG ESG teams.

Sheralee has 30 years’ governance experience, including auditing, integrated reporting and risk management in the banking, insurance, asset and investment management, pension fund, medical aid and mining sectors. Sheralee served as Executive Head of Enterprise-wide Risk Management at Nedbank Ltd, contributing to their award-winning integrated report.

Now she designs, writes and project manages the production of corporate reports, including integrated, sustainability and ESG reports, for listed and unlisted companies as the CEO of Joshero (Pty) Ltd. She is a past President/Chairperson of the board of the Institute of Risk Management South Africa and served on their board for nine years. She also served on the Nedbank medical aid board and chaired the Risk Committee.

Tina has nearly 30 years of strategy consulting experience across blue-chip and multinational organisations. Her expertise lies in driving transformative growth and enhancing business performance, delivering tangible results in dynamic, high-pressure environments.

She served as a member of the executive leadership team at a pan-African bank, where she worked across various areas, including integrated planning, risk and product governance, sector and segment management, enterprise development, innovation and change. She joined Trialogue and has also held various executive and non-executive directorships across various sectors.

Yvette is Adjunct Professor at Wits University’s School of Accountancy, where she serves as coordinator and director of the Chief Value Officer programme and contributes to research on integrated reporting and thinking. She also consults for A4S in technical and education areas, has held senior roles at PwC, and served as a technical advisor to the IAASB.

Her expertise spans assurance, risk management, sustainability, and non-financial advisory, and she serves on several influential committees, including Chair of SAICA’s Sustainability Technical Committee, the IRC Working Group and the IRBA’s Sustainability Standing Committee. She is also a judge at the CGISA Integrated Reporting Awards.

Warren is Professor of Accounting at the School of Accountancy at Wits University and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and SAICA. His research focuses on integrated reporting, corporate reporting, external audit and corporate governance. Warren has published over 50 journal articles, including papers in the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Accounting Forum, British Accounting Review and International Journal of Auditing. He has also produced several technical and practitioner-focused reports for professional bodies such as the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants.

He has co-edited two books on integrated reporting, namely, Sustainability Accounting and Integrated Reporting and The Routledge Handbook of Integrated Reporting with Charl de Villiers.

Zanele is an experienced investor relations and business development executive with over 18 years’ corporate experience and over two years as founder and director of Isibani-ci.

She held roles at Sasol Ltd, Nampak Ltd and Barloworld Ltd, giving her a comprehensive understanding of operations optimisation, strategy, project management, marketing and sales, as well as the key factors that lead to improved performance.