Ethics and governance

In 2008 the company’s effective whistle-blowing process and the design and development of new methods was reviewed to make access to this confidential reporting service easier for employees in African operations.

AngloGold Ashanti’s whistle-blowing process was first established in 2003 to provide a channel for shareholders, the public, employees, suppliers, contractors and any other interested parties to report practices that are in conflict with AngloGold Ashanti’s business principles, which constitute unlawful conduct or financial malpractice, or which endanger the public or the environment. From its inception, the service was under the custodianship of the Group Internal Audit Manager, who is independent of the conventional AngloGold Ashanti hierarchy.

In order to make the process user-friendly, accessible and to ensure the system's confidentiality, a decision was taken to introduce an external party into the reporting mechanism. The procedure involves making a report to management about a concern or, where for some reason this cannot be done using the services provided, by an outside service provider called Tip-offs Anonymous. Tip-offs Anonymous is controlled by Deloitte, one of the largest global professional services firms. The initiative was established in early 1999 in response to a growing requirement among major private and public sector organisations for a professionally managed outsourced and independent reporting service. The Deloitte Tip-offs Anonymous contact centre is equipped with state of the art technology, is fully computerised and is managed and operated by a team of dedicated, skilled and experienced professionals.

Whether to provide information confidentially or to remain anonymous is the choice of the individual making the report. If the choice is to remain anonymous, individuals are encouraged to use the services of Tip-offs Anonymous through the various channels available: telephone, fax, email, the intranet, post or the internet. (https://www.tip-offs.com/). Feedback on matters reported is provided through Tip-offs Anonymous upon request by the reporter.

“The programme has been doing well since its establishment and with new developments for 2009 we hope to make it even more accessible,” says Farzana Lorgat, Auditing Manager.

A review of the process in 2008 identified ways to allow for greater accessibility and inclusion for all the company’s operations. One of the new developments is to launch a text message reporting service. The service will operate as follows: an individual will send a text message to the specific reporting number, which will go through to Tip-offs Anonymous and the person will be phoned back by a call centre agent. The company will bear the cost of the call. The text message option is confidential, as the service provider will know the number of the individual but it will not be disclosed to AngloGold Ashanti, unless the individual states otherwise.

The new product is scheduled to be launched by June 2009, and is expected to increase the number of reports received. Employees, particularly in the African operations, have easier access to cellular phones than to landline phones, making it more convenient and cheaper for them to send a text message. The text message option will be launched first in South Africa as a pilot, and subsequently at other African operations.

Another new development is the creation of an internal Internet Protocol (IP) telephone line for reporting, which will be directly linked to Tip-offs Anonymous. The new mechanism allows employees in regions where there is no access to a toll-free telecommunications network, or where the telecommunications network is unstable, to dial into Tip-offs Anonymous. The system only registers which country the call is coming from, and not a specific IP address. Hence an individual will be able to make a phone call to Tip-offs Anonymous using any AngloGold Ashanti IP network phone. The only restriction is that employees will not be able to make calls from private home numbers; it must be made from an AngloGold Ashanti site as per the network layout.

Lorgat explains that the main reason for the development of this process has been to provide an alternative form of reporting accessible to employees. Local intranets all have confidential reporting links to Tip-offs Anonymous, which are not traceable. However, the development of an internal line was seen as an alternative to provide a form of access in the regions mentioned above to employees that do not have electronic access.

“We will continue to promote the whistle-blowing process and responsible reporting, emphasising that malicious disclosures are not protected, only disclosures made in good faith. We will be liaising with respective regions about the launch of the new systems to ensure proper implementation and successful usage,” says Lorgat.

Also see case study: 7.3 Whistle-blowers programme - success or otherwise (Report to Society 2004).