Blue Label Telecoms Integrated Annual Report 2017

Effective and ethical leadership

Ethics in action

Good corporate governance is

essentially about effective and

responsible leadership. It is

characterised by the ethical values of

responsibility, accountability, fairness

and transparency. The typical aspects

of corporate governance, such as the

role and responsibilities of the Board

and Directors individually, internal

audit, risk management and

stakeholder engagement rest on

a foundation of ethical values.

The Board subscribes to the same

ethical standards contained in the

ethics statement and seeks to

demonstrate these standards in all

engagements with stakeholders,

deliberations and decisions made as

well as monitoring the ethical culture

and compliance of the Group. Conflict

of interest declarations are made by all

directors at each Board and committee

meeting.

The purpose of the ethics statement is

to:

emphasise the Group’s commitment

to ethics and compliance with laws

and regulations;

set out basic standards of ethical and

legal behaviour;

provide reporting mechanisms for

known or suspected ethical or legal

violations; and

help prevent and detect wrongdoing.

https://www.bluelabeltelecoms

co.za/sus-ethics-statement.php

Blue Label reiterates its stance on the

following matters:

fraudulent, corrupt or illegal

practices are not tolerated. Bribes or

any other illicit payments including

facilitations will neither be paid nor

received;

the Group does not participate in

any illegal anti-competitive activity.

Employees cannot authorise or

participate in any illegal conduct

or action that purports to restrict

competition; and

the Group is non-political.

Employees are expected to

demonstrate ethical business practices.

All new staff members undergo an

induction programme that includes

training on the code of business

conduct, including the function of the

ethics hotline, such as what should be

reported and how to report unethical

behaviour via this channel. The Group

recently implemented an interactive

online portal called Blue Galaxy. The

aim is to facilitate the awareness of

issues relating to ethics, Group policy

and procedure, security awareness and

best practice. All staff have access to

the portal and are required to read

and understand the relevant topic,

answer and number of specific

questions relating to the topic and

acknowledge receipt of the relevant

document or policy. The ethics hotline

is outsourced to KPMG Ethics Line,

a division of KPMG, and can be

accessed on 0800 22 10 20. No

incidents were reported during the

year ended 31 May 2017.

The Social, Ethics and Transformation

Committee maintains oversight of the

ethics policies and applications in the

Group and the Chairman of the Board

sets the ethical tone for the Board as

a whole. Focus areas during the year

and going forward included:

Appropriate use and safeguards

of customer data including

confidentiality regulations

Accreditation and monitoring of

business partners’ adherence to

Group ethical standards

Responsible corporate

citizenship

Making a difference in South Africa

is a key component of the Group’s

purpose and core strategy in so far as

the positive impact we have on the

economy, communities, customers,

employees and our business partners.

The continued economic, business and

societal transformation of South Africa

is considered integral to the future

success of our business.

The very nature of our business

operations extends to empowering our

consumers through:

Innovative products and services

providing access to airtime, data,

utilities, financial services and

ticketing;

Reaching unbanked and

underbanked communities enabling

convenient payment mechanisms

and taking products to the people;

and

Enriching and uplifting quality of

life.

The market we service extends to

nearly 1.5 million merchants in the

formal and informal market. Informal

and indirect employment opportunities

abound within our network of

merchants including foot soldiers and

BLU agents. Our entrepreneurial

trading models including gazebos,

umbrellas, tables and stalls allow easy

access for individuals into the market.

The investment in our people extends

to our extensive and blended

development programmes, training

and learnership programmes (refer

to Human capital section on page 81).

BLUE LABEL

INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 2017