Issue #2 (Volume 6 2017)

The role of sustainability reporting in investment decision-making is not clear and obvious. Despite the steady increase of such statements in corporate annual reports, the relationship between the sustainability reporting and the financial performance of companies is not always positive. The main problems of sustainability reporting nowadays are insufficient comparability of reporting, accuracy (lack of materiality, reliability and validity of indicators), lack of common approaches for its verification.

Synthesis of standardization and regulation features of sustainability reporting, which is provided in this paper in different dimensions (countries, regulators standards), allows to identify long-term trends of this reporting to ensure its quality during investment decision-making in traditional and responsible financial markets.

The paper analyzes the Zimbabwean VAT system. The main objective was to establish and evaluate the gaps within the Zimbabwean VAT system, with the view of closing them so that the Zimbabwean VAT is attuned to the dictates of the best practice VAT. A review of literature was used and the main sources of information were the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, the South African Revenue Services, literature from various journal articles and books and various reports and legislative instruments. The key finding of the study was that the Zimbabwean VAT system falls short of both the South African and best practice VATs. The main reasons for the gap are; a narrow VAT base fuelled by rampant VAT zero-rates and exemptions; it defies the destination principle; it does not conform to the principle of tax neutrality and tax simplicity; and it has high costs of collection and compliance. The study recommends that the Zimbabwean VAT system should be aligned to the best practice VAT through streamlining VAT privileges and correctly implementing the destination principle. Adequate funding should be allocated to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority in order to embrace the Information Communication Technology (ICT) drive to reduce costs of compliance and collection.

One of the main aims of the National Credit Act (NCA) of 2005 in South Africa is to curtail rising consumer over-indebtedness by encouraging credit providers to adopt responsible lending practices. This research study seeks to ascertain whether the NCA’s responsible lending requirements have limited reckless lending by credit providers. Data are collected by a telephonic survey amongst debt counselors and in-depth interviews amongst bank employees. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze data from the descriptive survey, while data from in-depth interviews are analyzed using the thematic approach. Credit providers have divided opinions on whether the NCA limits reckless lending practices. Debt counselors claimed that credit providers are lending irresponsibly. By contrast, insights obtained from bank employees indicate compliance. However, both agree that borrowers are not borrowing responsibly. As a result, consumer education is required to educate consumers on both the benefits and risks of borrowing. It is also recommended that lenders be audited for compliance to the Credit act.

The main purpose of this paper is to document some challenges faced by Independent Development Trust (IDT) in infrastructure delivery of the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal. Infrastructure delivery has a significant effect on the local budgets or budgets of projects in the province. The main focus of the study was the root causes of delays, budgetary overruns and the resultant effect on service delivery back-logs and socio-economic impact caused by such delays. The study setting comprised of professional stakeholders in the built environment and these include specialists and professionals in the engineering, construction management, civil and general building fields. The objectives of this study were achieved by means of a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to a group of participants, composed of project managers, quantity surveyors, engineers, architects and project managers working with IDT. The nature of the research was quantitative and data analysis used descriptive and a bit of inferential statistics to arrive at some generalizations and conclusions. The study was able to affirm that there are major inefficiencies in the current infrastructure delivery model of the South African government. Major causes identified include factors such as delays in payments, poor planning, subsiding levels of professional ethics and standards exercised by professionals in the built environment, and so forth. The study also made some recommendations from the research findings. Clearly the infrastructure delivery model requires a new trajectory in tackling the under-development and triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and slow economic growth.