About this report

This Environmental, Social and Governance Report (ESG Report) details our environment, social and governance processes and performance for the year 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. The scope of this report includes The Bidvest Group and our operating subsidiaries excluding Adcock Ingram. The report forms part of the Bidvest annual report suite and is published in October 2022.

Our reporting process has been guided by the principles and requirements contained in the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the IIRC’s International Framework, the Global Reporting Index Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI), the King Code on Corporate Governance 2016^TM (King IV), the JSE Listings Requirements (Listing Requirements), the requirements of the remit assigned to social and ethics committees in terms of the South African Companies Act of 2008, as amended (the Companies Act), United Nation’s 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the principals of stakeholder capitalism as championed by the World Economic Forum.

Various policies, standards and charters are reviewed periodically and are available on the Bidvest website. Supplementary sustainability information is also available on the website.

The information and data included in this report have not been externally assured with the exception of the financial information and that related to skills development, and procurement as part of the B-BBEE verification process. The key sustainability indicators were robustly reported through the management structure that is in place within the Bidvest business environment.

Statement of compliance

Bidvest is committed to the highest standards of business integrity, ethics and professionalism. King IV was released on 1 November 2016. King IV advocates an outcome-based approach and defines corporate governance as the exercise of ethical and effective leadership towards the achievement of the following governance outcomes:

Ethical culture;
Good performance;
Effective control; and
Legitimacy.

The practices underpinning the principles in King IV are entrenched in many of the Group’s internal controls, policies and procedures governing corporate conduct. From a materiality point of view, the Bidvest Group Limited board (board) is satisfied that in the main, Bidvest has applied the principles set out in King IV, the detail of which is more fully described in this report.

The full King IV application register and GRI content index are available on the Group website, www.bidvest.co.za

Approval of the ESG Report

The board has applied its collective mind to the preparation and presentation of the information in this report. The board believes that this report addressed all material issues and presents a balanced and fair account of the Group’s sustainability performance.

Bonang Mohale
Chairman

Mpumi Madisa
Group chief executive

18 October 2022