SOUTH AFRICA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Professor Michael Katz, Matthew Morrison, Madison Liebmann and Sinovuyo Damane, ENS
King V now explicitly supports sustainability dis - closure on the basis of double materiality, meaning organisations should include in reports not only mat - ters that significantly affect their financial position and prospects, but also matters that impact stakeholders and the broader economic, social and environmental context. Defending and Rebuilding Institutions and Institutional Trust The legacy of state capture It is important to acknowledge that, in the South Afri - can context, the corporate governance framework exists and continues to evolve against the backdrop of a broader defining governance challenge in South Africa, being the defence and rebuilding of institutional integrity following the era of state capture between 2009–2018. A key feature of state capture involved the systematic subversion of accountability mecha - nisms across the public and private sectors, which threatened the institutional integrity of key institutions required for a functioning democracy and economy. Certain institutions survived state capture through good governance Certain critical institutions demonstrated remarkable resilience during the state capture era in large part due to good governance rules and/or leadership. The judi - ciary remained independent, with the Constitutional Court delivering landmark judgments including the unanimous March 2016 decision confirming that the Public Protector’s remedial actions are legally bind - ing, the South African Reserve Bank maintained its institutional integrity, cracking down on money laun - dering and defending monetary policy independence despite political pressure; and the National Treasury, under good leadership, exercised fiscal prudence and transparency throughout most of the period, providing predictability and certainty to stakeholders even as South Africa continues to recover from its historical challenges including state capture. As of July 2025, the Presidency reported that of the 60 actions identi - fied in the President’s October 2022 Response Plan to the State Capture Commission recommendations, 48% are complete or substantially complete, 23% are other institutions were undermined. Recovery and legislative reform
on track, and 29% are delayed. Total recoveries of stolen public funds have reached nearly ZAR11 billion, with assets worth ZAR10.6 billion under restraint or preservation orders. Significant legislative reforms have been enacted to address state capture vulnerabilities, including the National Prosecuting Authority Amendment Act 10 of 2024, establishing the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption as a permanent entity, the Elec - toral Matters Amendment Act 14 of 2024, criminal - ising donations to political parties in expectation of contracts or influence, the Judicial Matters Amend - ment Act, 15 of 2023, introducing corporate liability for failure to prevent corruption and the Public Pro - curement Act 28 of 2024, consolidating previously fragmented procurement systems into a single regu - latory framework designed to enhance transparency. South Africa’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey- listing in 2023 was one of the consequences of the systemic vulnerabilities which were aggravated by the state capture, and in this regard, a significant positive development in South Africa’s recovery is South Afri - ca’s removal from the grey-listing on 24 October 2025. Promoting the sustainability of institutions The formation of the GNU following the 2024 elec - tions has created new dynamics for institutional gov - ernance. The GNU, dominated by the ANC and the Democratic Alliance, although with key minorities as “king-makers” in certain cases, has generated healthy competition among coalition partners to demonstrate governance competence. Operation Vulindlela, a part - nership between the Presidency and National Treasury to address structural obstacles to economic growth, has received broad support from GNU partners and is delivering visible reform implementation. King V itself represents an institutional strengthening of corporate governance. Its mandatory disclosure framework requires organisations to provide a coherent, public narrative for their governance choices, explicitly state any recommended practices not adopted with expla - nations and compensating measures, and deliver a concluding statement on whether governance out - comes have been achieved. This represents a signifi - cant enhancement of King IV.
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