Encouraging Sustainable Investment in South Africa: CRISA and Beyond

Abstract

This chapter starts with an exposition of the context of shareholder stewardship in South Africa and the institutional investor landscape. This is followed by a discussion of the two main soft law initiatives that support shareholder stewardship in South Africa, namely the Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa (‘CRISA’) and the King IV Report on Governance for South Africa (‘King IV’). These soft law initiatives are extensively supported by hard law provisions, especially for retirement funds and their service providers, but also for other institutional actors. Brief mention is made of the social and ethics committee of certain investee companies and the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index. The chapter concludes with some recommendations for the improvement of the current system.