ETHICS TRAINING PERFORMANCE
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We supply products of good quality |
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We contribute to the communities in which we operate |
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We minimise our impact on the environment |
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We establish ethical and long-term relationships with our stakeholders |
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We maintain a healthy and safe working environment |
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We promote fair competition. |
In 2021, against the benchmark set by our code, 19 employees
were dismissed, eight resigned, five received final/written
warnings, five criminal cases were registered with South African
Police Service (SAPS) because of employee misconduct, and
nine contract employees and two vendor services were
terminated.
ANTI-CORRUPTION AND ANTI-BRIBERY
Any acts of bribery and corruption are strictly prohibited, and
we have a zero-tolerance approach to any action that goes
against the code. Our anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy
prohibits lobbying and facilitation payments, and political
donations, in accordance with our code.
Our declaration of interest policy sets out situations that may
constitute a conflict of interest, and stipulates mandatory
declaration of any conflict of interest on an annual basis, or as
soon as is reasonably possible after awareness of the conflict
of interest arises. Our gifts, entertainment and hospitality policy
sets out the parameters within which gifts, entertainment and
hospitality may be received or given and creates an obligation
to disclose such. We have a high-level fraud prevention plan in
place, and conduct fraud risk assessments and audits for
compliance with our code and gift policy.
All employees above a specific management level (Grade DL)
who might be at risk of corruption or bribery through their work
activities, must attend specific ethics training every two years.
The latest round of mandatory ethics training was held in
January 2021, and the next training cycle planned for 2023.
WHISTLEBLOWING
Our code makes provision for a whistleblowing mechanism
that establishes a secure channel for the anonymous reporting
of unethical behaviour. This facility empowers us to discover
and investigate transgressions of our code and hold
transgressors to account, and is essential for cultivating
an ethical culture within Tiger Brands.
Tiger Brands uses the services of Tip-offs Anonymous
(a division of Deloitte), to give all employees, suppliers,
customers, consumers and members of the public, the
opportunity to do the right thing and anonymously report
any ethical transgression, dishonesty or fraud. The service
excludes customer product complaints, and a separate
channel is provided for this purpose (see administration below).
Our whistleblowing programmes are proactively communicated
to all employees and available in local languages. An
independent reporting hotline is available 24/7 for employees
and third parties. Non-retaliation is a key aspect of our
whistleblowing policy and is dealt with under applicable
whistleblowing legislation in South Africa.
All incidents reported to Tip-offs Anonymous are received by
the internal audit and risk director and the chief legal officer.
Reports are actioned within 24 hours and all investigations
are supported by a formal investigative report issued to the
relevant line manager and CEO. Further internal controls are
in place to mitigate against risks.
In 2021, 62 whistleblowing reports were received through the
tip-off's hotline, compared to 70 in 2020. We have investigated
and closed 54 of these report, with eight still under
investigation.
WHISTLEBLOWING REPORTS BY CATEGORY
Tip-offs Anonymous
Toll free: 0800 80 80 80 Free fax: 0800 00 77 88
Website: www.tip-offs.com
Email: tiger-brands@ethics-line.com
A monthly ethics report is presented to EXCO. The status of all
cases, including closed cases, is discussed and noted at this
meeting. This report is also tabled at audit and SET committee
meetings. Whistleblowing reports are categorised into alleged
corruption, fraud, health and safety, human resources and
employee relations issues, theft and unethical behaviour.
TAX STRATEGY
Our tax objective is to protect and enhance shareholder value
by achieving a sustainable tax result that complies with the tax
laws in jurisdictions where we operate. Our tax framework is
aligned to the overall Tiger Brands governance framework.
We continuously observe the changing tax landscape across
jurisdictions to ensure that we comply with all tax regulations,
as well as maintain the integrity of our compliance and
reporting requirements.
We continuously endeavour to align our tax objectives to our
corporate values to ensure that we uphold and protect our
corporate reputation. We will not enter into any transactions
that will compromise our integrity, and strive for openness
and transparency in all our dealings with tax authorities.
The average tax rate for the group for the year ended
30 September 2021 is 29,1% (before impairments, non-operational
costs and income from associated companies),
which is 2,9% lower than the 2020 average tax rate of 32,0%
for continuing operations.
CYBER SECURITY
It is of vital importance that customers trust Tiger Brands with
the safety of their information. We highly value the security and
privacy of the personal information we hold and process, and
are increasingly prioritising this security, as we adapt to keep
pace with a rapidly evolving technology, digital and cyber
security landscape.
In response to this fast-moving context, we are continuously
and iteratively implementing plans to enhance our practices
and build our cyber security capabilities over time. We are
on-track and in-progress with implementing and enhancing our
cyber security policies, processes and systems, and ensuring
compliance with the requirements of the Protection of Personal
Information Act 2013 (POPIA) and EU General Data Protection
Regulations.
We have built clear roadmaps to ensure that we are cyber-resilient
across our environment, including our manufacturing
plants. These roadmaps are underpinned by clear
management commitments and are tracked and monitored
through the board's risk and sustainability, and audit
committees. The group information officer is responsible for
ensuring continued compliance to the POPIA requirements and
reports progress to the risk and sustainability committee, in line
with the committee's annual work plan.
We have clear intentions to build a security-smart culture at
Tiger Brands, and a key aspect of our approach is to reflect
strategically on our actions and apply the lessons learnt.
Supporting this practice, we regularly recruit independent
assessments of our performance against best practice and
industry standards, ensuring that any gaps are appropriately
prioritised and remediated.
Training and awareness is a key focus, as this ensures that the
insider threats are addressed. To this end, security campaigns
focused on specific security-related topics are run quarterly,
via newsletters, videos, podcasts and email inserts. Our
policies are enforced through the implementation of our
defined roadmaps, which work to instil a strong sense of the
cyber security principles and protocols across the organisation.
In terms of readiness, cyber incident simulations will continue
to be run as a core element of our training at all levels. This will
ensure we are as ready as possible when faced with a
significant cyber attack or related incident.
