Vodacom

About this report

Thank you for reading Vodacom Group Limited’s integrated report for the year ended 31 March 2016. Our report aims to provide our stakeholders with a concise, material, transparent and understandable assessment of our governance, strategy, performance and prospects.

Scope and frameworks

This report provides a concise review of Vodacom’s strategy and business model, risks and opportunities, and operational and governance performance, for the financial year 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016. The report covers the activities of the Vodacom Group and all our operating subsidiaries. Financial and non-financial data from our subsidiaries are fully consolidated ¹. Our reporting process has been guided by the principles and requirements contained in the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the International Integrated Reporting Councils (IIRC’s) Framework, the GRI’s G4 Guidelines, the King Code on Corporate Governance 2009 (King III), the JSE Listings Requirements and the South African Companies Act of 2008, as amended. We have provided extracts from the consolidated annual financial statements (AFS) in our printed Integrated report. The consolidated annual financial statements were audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. who expressed an unmodified opinion thereon. These extracts are extracted from audited information, but are not audited. The full set of consolidated annual financial statements (AFS), as well as a suite of additional reports, are available online or can be requested from our Company Secretary.

Materiality: Assessing value creation at Vodacom

This report provides information on all those matters that we believe could substantively affect value creation at Vodacom. Written primarily for current and prospective investors, the report is of interest to any stakeholder who wishes to make an informed assessment of Vodacom’s ability to create value over time. In the belief that all the information in this report is material, we do not seek to provide a simple listing of ‘material issues’. To identify and prioritise the matters for inclusion in this report we undertook a structured process involving senior decision-makers from across the Group. The process involved a considered review of: Vodacom’s business model; our interaction with the six capitals (financial, manufactured, human and intellectual, social and relationship, and natural capital); our operating environment; the interests of our key stakeholders; and Vodacom’s strategy. The outcomes of this process were reviewed and signed off by the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee. This report presents the identified material information through a clearly structured narrative (click here). Additional information not material to this report, but of interest for other purposes, is provided in our other reports and on our website.

Integrated thinking: Our approach to the six capitals

Integrated thinking is intrinsic to how we manage our business and to our internal strategy and reporting practices. Our strategy development process included a review of Vodacom’s business model and our interaction and interdependency with the external societal context. The resulting strategic priorities and three-year goals and targets have been developed to ensure that we manage the resources and relationships needed to create value over time. A considered assessment of the six capitals (as referred to in the IIRC’s Framework) informed both our strategy and the internal materiality process used to determine the content and structure of this report. As we do not manage our business in terms of these capitals, and this is not an approach typically adopted by our target audience, we have not structured our report against the capitals. A review of our interaction with the key resources and relationships impacting value is presented on click here.

Combined assurance

We use a combined assurance model to provide us with assurance obtained from management and from internal and external assurance service providers. PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. audited our consolidated annual financial statements 2016. Ernst & Young Inc. performed a ‘limited assurance’ engagement on selected key performance indicators linked to our five strategic priorities for the year ended 31 March 2016. We have also engaged Ernst & Young Inc to provide a ‘limited assurance’ report on Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions that are separately reported in our sustainability report 2016. Our South African operations are ISO 9001 certified by the British Standards Institute and Vodacom Business Nigeria is ISO 9001 – 2008 certified by DQS (Pty) Limited. Our Audit Committee provides internal assurance to the Board on an annual basis on the execution of the combined assurance plan. The Group’s financial, operating, compliance and risk management controls are assessed by the Group’s internal audit function, which is overseen by the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee.

Board approval

The Board is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the integrated report. The Board believes that the report addresses all material issues and presents a balanced and fair account of the Group’s performance. The integrated report has been developed in accordance with the guidance provided in the latest Framework developed by the IIRC. On the recommendation of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee, the Board approved the Vodacom annual financial statements and the Vodacom integrated report on 3 June 2016.