Lula’s full Whistle Blower Policy:
1. POLICY STATEMENT
a. Lula is committed to conducting its business with honesty and integrity at all times. If at any time this commitment is not respected or appears to be in question, Lula will endeavour to identify and remedy this. Lula appreciates that it cannot give effect to this commitment without the assistance of its employees, partners and customers. Lula’s policy is to ensure that when a person has reasonable grounds to believe that an employee, manager, or any other person related to Lula has committed, or is about to commit, an offence that could harm Lula’s business, its reputation or its customers, it denounces the wrongdoers in question and brings a stop to the wrongful conduct.
b. The whistleblower policy is to be read together with other policies of Lula, specifically, Lula’s Code of Conduct, AML, Environmental and Social Management Policy, Sexual Harassment Policy and Grievance Policy.
c. All Lula stakeholders, including staff, grantees, consultants, suppliers and other third parties have a duty to immediately report any illegal or unethical conduct occurring in relation to Lula.
d. This whistleblower policy has been put in place to:
(i) Encourage employees, partners or managers to disclose this information or behaviour (ii) Protect complainants from reprisals
(iii) Treat all parties to an investigation in a fair and equitable manner
(iv) Ensure confidentiality as much as possible
(v) Take corrective and disciplinary action if wrongdoing is discovered.
2. DEFINITION
For the purposes of this policy, whistleblowing is defined as the deliberate, voluntary disclosure of any suspected or anticipated misconduct within or associated with Lula that is within its ability to control. A whistleblower is any staff member, supplier, consultant, contractor, customer or other third party that makes such a disclosure.
3. PURPOSE
a. The purpose of this whistleblower policy is to encourage current and former employees, consultants, third party suppliers, business partners and customers to communicate events that raise serious concerns about Lula and how Lula operates its business. Lula encourages and will support all employees, consultants, third party suppliers, business partners and customers who report illegal practices or individuals who violate Lula’s policies and/or the law.
b. Regardless of their level, type of employment or location, Lula employees must be encouraged to report concerns or complaints regarding conduct by Lula Board members, managers, staff, vendors, contractors, consultants or customers which they believe:
i. Are in breach of, or fails to implement, or does not comply with, Lula’s governing rules, procedures, policies, or established standards of practice e.g. accounting; procurement; human resources; or
ii. Is illegal or involved in unlawful conduct (e.g. fraud, corruption); or
iii. Is a breach of the Sexual Harassment Policy; or
iv. Is unethical or inconsistent with the standards and values Lula subscribes to; or
v. Is, or will result, in as waste of Lula resources or pose a risk to Lula’s reputation and integrity; or
vi. Are involved in dangerous practices likely to cause physical harm or damage to a person or to property; or
vii. Is abusing power or authority for any unauthorized or ulterior purpose; or
viii. Represents a conflict of interest; or
ix. Attempt to cover up any of the above.
c. Similarly, Lula encourages its suppliers, consultants, contractors, and other third parties to report concerns or complaints they believe attain any of the examples outlined in section 2(b) above.
d. Where the matters being reported relate to: (a) employee grievances over decisions regarding the employee salary and benefits, employment status or other human resource issues affecting them; (b) discrimination, harassment and other offensive or disruptive behaviour in the workplace; and (c) interpersonal difficulties between staff and their supervisors, or between staff members; these will be reviewed in accordance with the specific procedures established by the applicable Lula policy.
e. Matters that are reported relating to sexual harassment shall be reviewed and investigated in accordance with the procedures established in the Sexual Harassment Policy.
f. Matters that are reported related to fraud shall be reviewed and investigated in accordance with the Code of Conduct.
g. Matters that are reported related to money laundering shall be reviewed and investigated in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Policy.
4. SCOPE
This policy applies to all current and former employees, consultants, business partners, suppliers and third-party contractors, directors as well as customers of Lula.
5. DUTY TO REPORT MISCONDUCT
a. It is the duty of all employees, consultants, business partners, suppliers, Directors and third-party contractors as well as customers of Lula to report actual or suspected misconduct, unethical behaviour, fraud and /or financial impropriety to Lula. This includes, but is not limited to:
i. Providing false or misleading information or withholding material information on Lula’s financial statements, accounting, auditing or other financial reporting;
ii. Fraud and misrepresentation;
iii. Pursuit of material benefit or advantage in violation of Lula’s Conflict of Interest Policy; iv. Unauthorised alteration or manipulation of computer files, code or data of Lula;
v. Destroying, altering, mutilating, concealing, covering up, falsifying or making a false entry in any records that may be connected to an official proceeding or contractual relationship;
vi. Violation of state or provincial laws and regulations;
vii. Sexual harassment or misconduct.
b. A whistleblowing concern can either be made confidentially or anonymously: i. Full Disclosure: the whistleblower’s name is known and will be disclosed in the report.
ii. Partially Anonymous: the whistle-blower’s name is known but will not be disclosed, without their consent, unless required by law.
iii. Anonymous whistleblowing: the whistleblower does not identify themselves to anyone at any stage.
c. If a whistleblowing concern is made anonymously, enough information must be provided to facilitate a thorough investigation of the allegations.
d. The following communication channels are available to individuals for reporting their concerns: i. the whistleblower email: whistleblower@lulalend.co.za
ii. hotline number: 0678161520
e. Employees are encouraged to convey their concerns in writing to their direct report in the first instance. If they are not comfortable doing so or if the concern relates to their direct report, or if the direct report has not acted on similar earlier complaints, employees may convey their concerns to the CEO, COO, CIO or CTO, Head of Departments or Team Lead, as may be applicable.
f. In those instances, where they are not comfortable doing so or if the concern relates to the C suite, Head of Department, or Team Leads, employees may make written reports to the Head of People Operations, another member of the Management Team or Head of Legal.
g. Suppliers, consultants, contractors, customers and other third parties are encouraged to submit their concerns through the whistleblower hotline or email address.
h. Any individual may make a written submission to the Head of Legal or the whistleblower email or hotline, if he/she:
i. Has grounds to believe that he/she will be subjected to retaliation by the persons he/she should report to under the established internal mechanism; or
ii. Considers it likely that evidence relating to the misconduct will be concealed or destroyed if it is reported under the internal mechanism; or
iii. Has previously reported the same information through the established internal mechanism and believes Lula failed to take appropriate action within a reasonable period of time.
i. All whistleblower accounts received through the channels outlined above should be submitted to the Head of Legal for review. The Head of Legal shall report to the Audit and Risk Committee regarding any whistleblower report submitted to her. Access to the whistleblower email account and the independently managed whistleblower channel reports will be restricted to the Head of Legal and the Head of People Operations.
j. Whistleblowers should endeavour to ensure that reports are factual, rather than speculative, and should contain as much specific information as possible to allow for proper review and investigation.
6. REVIEW OF WHISTLEBLOWER REPORTS
a. All whistleblower accounts received through the channels outlined should be submitted to the Head of Legal for review. The Head of Legal shall report to the Audit and Risk Committee regarding any whistleblower reports submitted to her.
b. If the case involves alleged wrongdoing by the CEO, CTO, COO or CIO, the Head of Legal will refer it to the Audit and Risk Committee who, in consultation with the Chairman of the Board, will determine whether an investigation should be conducted. The result of any such investigation shall be submitted to the Chair of the Board who, in consultation with members of the Board, will decide what action to take.
c. Where the report relates to the Head of Legal or a member of the Audit and Risk Committee, the course of action will be determined by the Chair of the Board.
d. The Head of Legal in collaboration with the Audit and Risk Committee will assess the nature of the complaint and determine the course of action which includes:
i. Immediately initiate investigations on the reports. The investigations may be conducted by the organisation internal team, an outsourced party and/or referred to national authorities for prosecution in the event of a breach of national criminal laws.; or
ii. Forward the complaint to the Head of People Operations for action.
e. Investigations will be conducted in a professional manner following a systematic and analytical process designed to gather information in order to determine whether wrongdoing occurred and, if so, the persons or entities responsible.
f. The investigations should be conducted within 30 days of receipt of the report unless otherwise approved by the Audit and Risk Committee.
g. The results of the investigations will be presented to Lula management and the board through the Audit and Risk Committee for action which may include disciplinary action (up to and including termination of employment or service) against any person found to have engaged in unethical conduct or misconduct. Where appropriate, reporting of such misconduct to the relevant civil or criminal authorities should be done.
h. There will be no action taken on alleged reported individuals if the result of the review proves that the reports are unfounded.
i. Management will report to the board through the Audit and Risk Committee of the action taken on the investigation results within 30 days of receipt of the investigation report. It is strongly recommended that individuals identify themselves when reporting their concerns because this facilitates the investigation of the matter being raised. They may, however, choose to remain anonymous.
j. Anonymous reports, however, will require careful scrutiny as to whether or not they merit further action or escalation based on the evidence presented by the report and the seriousness of any allegation.
7. FEEDBACK TO THE WHISTLEBLOWER
Lula recognizes the right of the whistleblower to receive confirmation that the matter has been properly addressed. Therefore, he/she will be given as much feedback as is appropriate under the circumstances, subject to legal constraints.
8. RECORDS
Detailed records will be kept of all complaints lodged through the whistle-blower hotline which will include the following:
a. full details of complainant if not submitted on an anonymous basis, including name, identity number and contact details;
b. date of complaint;
c. full details of the nature of the complaint, the evidence presented and details of the person against whom the complaint is lodged;
d. discussions held with ARC;
e. Information and documentation gathered during the investigation;
f. outcome / feedback provided and any corrective action taken.
9. PROTECTION AGAINST RETALIATION
a. In making their reports in good faith, individuals are discharging their duty to protect and serve Lula. Lula will therefore respect, protect and keep confidential the identity of individuals who make such reports, and must ensure that there is no retaliation against them. Breaches in this regard will be treated as serious violations and will be subject to disciplinary provisions.
b. If a situation arises where the matter cannot be resolved without revealing the whistleblower’s identity, Lula will first discuss with him/her whether, and how best, to proceed.
10. ACTIONS NOT PROTECTED BY THIS POLICY
a. Where a whistleblower makes a report under this policy in good faith, reasonably believed to be true, there will be no action taken against him/her should the disclosure turn out to be inaccurate. Good faith shall be deemed lacking when the whistleblower does not have personal knowledge of, or a factual basis for the report or where he/she knew or reasonably should have known that the report is malicious, false, or frivolous. Lula will regard the making of any deliberately false or malicious allegations as misconduct, which may result in disciplinary action.
b. If a whistleblower has any personal interest in the matter, he/she must make this clear at the time the alleged misconduct is reported.
c. The act of whistleblowing will not shield whistleblowers from the reasonable consequences flowing from any involvement in misconduct. An individual’s liability for his/her own conduct is
not affected by his/her disclosure of that conduct. However, in some circumstances, an admission may be a mitigating factor when considering disciplinary or other action.
11. IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS POLICY AND TRAINING
a. The Head of Legal and People Operations shall ensure that the policy is adequately communicated, and appropriate procedures put in place to ensure proper implementation of this policy.
b. All employees shall be required to attend a training session led by the Head of Legal prior to the implementation of this Policy. New employees who join subsequent to such implementation shall be provided with the relevant training materials and a record of the training session provided.
c. A recording of the training session shall furthermore be uploaded to the internal Company intranet and available for all employees at all times.
d. Employees are encouraged to discuss any issues with the Head of Legal and / or People Operations and ask questions should they need further information about this policy and its processes.
e. Any other appropriate procedures aimed at ensuring proper implementation of this policy shall be communicated as is necessary.