King V – the next chapter for good corporate governance

Parmi Natesan | CEO | Institute of Directors South Africa (IoDSA) | mail me |

Ansie Ramalho | Chair of the King Committee | Institute of Directors South Africa (IoDSA) | mail me |

King V draft has arrived – simplified, streamlined and updated – but it will not dethrone King IV. Still, in draft form, the latest iteration of South Africa’s world-leading Code of Good Governance is a milestone in ensuring that the Code remains relevant and aligned with evolving governance practices, both locally and globally.

The public commentary period on the King V Draft ended on 4 April 2025. At present, the input from business leaders, government and members of the public is being collated and rigorously assessed as it is invaluable in preparing the final version of the Code for release later this year.

King V draft builds on the foundations of King IV, therefore organisations that are already applying King IV should find the transition to the new version relatively straightforward. The core tenets and underpinnings of King V have remained largely consistent with those in King IV, with some refinements in the explanation of integrated thinking and how it links to the associated ideology of Ubuntu and concepts such as corporate citizenship, stakeholder inclusivity and sustainable development.

The review was required because the world has changed significantly since King IV was launched in 2016. Governance is a dynamic field, influenced by evolving risks, emerging technologies, regulatory changes and shifts in stakeholder expectations. Regular updates to the King Code ensure that governance practices remain fit for purpose, addressing new challenges such as artificial intelligence, climate change, remuneration governance and heightened ESG expectations.

So, what has changed? In addition to updating King IV for governance developments, the King Committee also reviewed the Code with the key objectives of i) streamlining the content and presentation of the Code; and ii) standardising and facilitating disclosure on the application of King V. In short, making it easier for users to interpret, disclose, and apply the Code.

Single access point

The King V Code is no longer part of a report but is a stand-alone document on a single website. The current design of King IV as a report that consists of multiple parts will be replaced with a deconstructed presentation. This has the advantage that each of the individual parts currently comprising the King IV Report can now be directly accessed from a single King V webpage instead of having to search for it within the bigger report.

The new webpage will offer clearly visible tabs to enable direct navigation to the executive summary. Two other sections that were included in the King IV Report are now separate – a glossary and an application and the disclosure regime

The King V webpage will replace the King IV app. The Code will be drafted following regulatory drafting convention, and in the other documents the number of graphics and design elements will be limited. This simplified style has the advantage of making the content more accessible for visual-impaired people. Efforts have also been made to write in plain language and avoid technical jargon whenever feasible.

Executive summary of fundamental concepts and disclosure template

King V now features an executive summary of the fundamental concepts and philosophy that underpin the Code, as a convenient reference..

As a new addition, there is now a Disclosure Template^[1] that guides users – by providing both the form and content – on how to disclose their application of King V and how to explain their practices. The King Committee took into account the lived experience and feedback from users and regulators, which perceived the disclosure requirements as complex and challenging, both to implement and to oversee.

The template aims to assist organisations with meaningfully and qualitatively accounting for their implementation of King V. This will also be of value to stakeholders, including shareholders, investors and regulators. Furthermore, the fact that the content and layout are standardised and accessible via a single access point will enhance the transparency and consistency of disclosures.

Concise and clear

The King Principles, which outline the governance objectives that organisations should strive to achieve, have been rephrased and simplified. One principle was deleted, and others were combined, reducing the 17 principles of King IV to 12 in King V.

The deleted principle had been found to confuse some users because it was not universally applicable (it related specifically to institutional investors such as pension and retirement funds and life insurers). The King Committee therefore decided to remove this principle in the revised Code and instead continue advocating that institutional investors, in addition to implementing the King Code, should also embrace the principles and practices of the Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa (CRISA) 2.

Regarding the combining of principles, King IV’s separate ethics and leadership principles have been integrated into the leadership principle in King V. And the risk and compliance principles that were previously separate have now been merged into a single governance principle.

Scope of King V

King V is applicable to…