Governance

The Board and the Pick n Pay Stores Group are committed to upholding the highest standards of ethics, transparency and good corporate governance, while pursuing sustainable and profitable growth. The Board is ultimately accountable for the ethical leadership, sustainability and good corporate citizenship of the Group, and is assisted in this regard by senior management. The Group’s commitment to good corporate governance permeates every aspect of the management structure.

The Board takes overall responsibility for the performance of the Group, ensuring that it is managed in a transparent, equitable and responsible manner. Members of the Board operate as a resource for executives in directing, finalising and overseeing the implementation of the Group’s strategy and policy.

With the aim of achieving a balanced economic, social and environmental performance, the Board supports efforts to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business. Legitimate stakeholder involvement is kept in mind at all times. The Board fully supports the materiality approach, which emphasises integrated reporting based on issues and elements that can have a material impact on the sustainable performance of the business over the short, medium and long term.The Board is supported by the audit and risk, corporate finance, corporate governance, nominations, remuneration and social and ethics committees to carry out its oversight role of ensuring that implementation of the Group’s strategy is managed in a manner that is consistent with the values of the Group. These committees report to the Board on their activities in line with their delegated powers and authority, as set out in the corporate governance charter.

The Board believes that the Group has applied all significant governance principles and is compliant with all significant Listings Requirements of the JSE. The Group has not breached any regulatory requirements and has complied with statutory obligations.The governance result on the governance assessment instrument (GAI) scale remains AA, as a result of our ownership structure, where AAA is the highest measure. GAI is an independent measurement instrument of corporate governance best practice, endorsed by the Institute of Directors of Southern Africa.

The Group has made progress in identifying and managing significant risks that could have a material impact on the business. Key risk metrics and measures have been developed with risk indicators clearly defined.

Application of King IV principles

The King IV Code has been reviewed to ensure that the Group’s adherence to the principles and best practice benchmarks of corporate governance will remain current.