The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) welcomes the Companies, Bill, we commend the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition for making strides to ensure the companies recognize and formalize the stakeholder participation.

Minister Ebrahim Patel introduced the Companies’ Amendment Bill published in the government gazette number 45250, notice 586 on the 1st October 2021, inevitably, the changes proposed in the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has the embryonic potential on conferring long term benefits to organized labour as it seeks to facilitate; and promote transparency to allow organised labour to access critical business information and to ensure a law-abiding corporate in South Africa.

The Bill among others includes definitions that were not part of the principal act such as the B-BBEE, True owner, Securities, stakeholder, and a stakeholder agreement. Key provisions of the Bill include a requirement that large, listed companies disclose the wage gaps, the senior management salaries as well as the companies’ shareholding.  

The emphasis placed by the bill on transparency coincided with the principles of King IV, with a specific focus on transparency and accountability as a cornerstone for ethical governance. This is one of the elements of King IV codes that are incorporated into the companies Bill.

We are confident that parliament will fast track the deliberations on the bill and ensure that it is enacted into law in the first quarter of 2022. 

 

Issued by The National Union of Mineworkers