An assessment of integrated reporting practices in the mining industry of South Africa

M.Com. (International Accounting)This study is conducted as a result of the increased focus on integrated reports (IRs), more specifically focusing on the current integrated reporting practices within the mining industry of South Africa. There has been a rapid increase in accountability pressures on companies due to financial crises across the globe, accounting and remuneration scandals, and suspicion about the social and environmental implications of businesses (Kolk, n.d.:2). Accountability is specifically discussed by the Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa (SA IRC) as follows: Now, in the context of the global financial crisis and amidst increasing evidence that the current economic model is socially and environmentally unsustainable and that current reporting practice is not delivering, it is time for new and more effective forms of accountability (SA IRC, 2011:1). This form of accountability also flowed over into the mining industry in which the current reporting practice is not having a significant impact on the perception of the mining industry. The South African mining industry is also currently in crisis, and the market fears further disruption of mining output due to the uncooperative trade unions (Kantor, 2013). Current reporting practice is not highlighting these issues or the long-term impact thereof on the mining industry and individual companies. The two major obstacles that any mining company has to overcome are, firstly that the board of directors needs to report to a wide range of stakeholders with different needs and expectations, and secondly the directors have to report on the sustainability of the industry while managing the mining company’s risk and generating a return on shareholders’ and investors’ investments. Union leaders, investors, and shareholders do not currently share the opinion that the mining industry is in crisis as there are clear mismatches between what the union leaders demand, what the shareholders and government can offer, and what the industry can afford (Kantor, 2013). The mining companies’ extraction of scarce resources is not sustainable and this can have a direct and indirect impact on various stakeholders