Media firms score low in busting corruption

25 May 2016 - 08:36 By KATHARINE CHILD

South Africa's embattled mining industry comes out tops in a first-of-its-kind survey assessing whether local companies are doing enough to stamp out corruption. NGO Corruption Watch compiled the survey on corporate corruption using information from companies' annual reports and websites.The top 36 listings on the JSE by market capitalisation and 14 private companies were assessed.The banking sector fared the worst and media companies scored poorly as well.Businesses were measured on their policies to prevent bribery and support whistleblowers.BHP Billiton, FirstRand, Glencore, Goldfields, SABMiller and Vodacom all got 100% for public reporting on their anti-corruption policies.Primedia came last with 4%, with Capitec, Caxton and Times Media also scoring poorly.Other results showed:27 companies failed to reveal information about tax payments in foreign countries; and33 did not have policies that banned bribes; and22 companies did not make their political donations public.The report also measured companies on their openness about financial holdings in other countries, which according to Corruption Watch could aid companies in hiding money in tax havens...

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