🇿🇦 English, 26 October 2026, King V Code
Boards Face Scrutiny Over Data Centre Expansion
The Human Rights Commission's inquiry into data centre expansion is testing the application of the King V Code.
The King V Code, which applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2026, reduces King IV’s 17 principles to 13 and obliges directors to act with the care and diligence reasonably expected of someone carrying out their functions.
The code’s recommended practices are more specific than most directors realise, including Principle 2, which asks the governing body to oversee targets covering community development, human rights, climate and energy resilience, water stewardship and waste.
The commission’s inquiry is not inventing new standards, but rather asking about matters already placed before boards by the King V Code.