English | Code Of Conduct - Book - Page 20
Unreasonable influence vs building relationships
Exchanging gifts or taking a client out for dinner can be a great way to build business relationships. There is
nothing inherently unethical about these kinds of exchanges, but if the offering of the benefit creates a conflict
of interest in the mind of the recipient it could be perceived to be inappropriate.
Some gifts, entertainment and hospitality can exert an improper influence if they are, or can be perceived to be,
undue attempts to sway decisions or behaviour.
To avoid these kinds of situations, we:
•
Avoid expectations of reciprocity.
•
Never receive gifts, entertainment, travel benefits or hospitality from people (including their partners,
family members or close friends) engaged in a tender, competitive bidding, commercial negotiation or
selling process.
•
Never accept or give cash or cash equivalents like shares, vouchers and gift cards.
•
Avoid the offering of gifts, entertainment, travel benefits or hospitality to public officials unless it is
lawful, reasonable and directly related to plant visits or Sasol business activities.
•
Declare and seek pre-approval for all gifts, entertainment and hospitality that we offer or receive that
could be perceived to create a conflict of interest or which are worth more than the threshold amounts
contained in the current Gift Entertainment and Hospitality Policy.
We monitor the appropriateness of providing donations and sponsorships
Donations and sponsorships carry the risk of diversion, which is when the donation actually benefits someone
other than the charity or organisation it is given to, for example, when a donation is made in exchange for a
business favour. To prevent this, Sasol implements appropriate controls to monitor the proper utilisation of
donations and sponsorships. We will not use donations or sponsorships to inappropriately sway decisions or
behaviour.
If we want to sponsor or contribute to a charity as part of our Sasol accountabilities, we first get approval from
Group Corporate Affairs or the relevant Executive Vice President (EVP).
We assess the suitability of accepting external directorships
We acknowledge that there is nothing inherently unethical if an employee holds an external directorship.
However, some directorships can create a perception of a conflict of interest and a risk of non-compliance with
competition law. This can negatively affect Sasol’s reputation and may even constitute an offence.
To protect our reputation:
We generally limit external directorships and only allow external directorships as
provided for in the Group’s External Directorship Policy.
We consider external directorships carefully and prohibit our people from holding
directorships in our competitors, potential competitors or companies we do
business with or donate to.
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