Non-Financial Disclosures in the South African Mining Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse the nature and extent of non-financial disclosures in South African mining companies’ annual reports both pre- and post-King III to explore the impact that King III may have had on such disclosures. The research methodology adopted was a content analysis of annual reports prior to the issue of King III and then, in order to provide a second benchmarking period, more recent studies of mining companies’ annual reports after the issue of King III were accessed. These studies also used content analysis allowing for some degree of comparability. The study found that overall, the non-financial disclosures for all mining companies showed an increasing trend for the years leading up to the issue of King III. After the release of King III, the study found that although the extent of disclosures increased further, pointing to King III being the impetus for such an increase, there was still room for improvement in corporate governance disclosures especially with regards to forward looking disclosures and board of directors’ disclosures.