In 1994 the King Report on Corporate Governance (King I) was published by the King Committee on Corporate Governance, headed by former High Court judge, Mervyn King S.C. King I, incorporating a Code of Corporate Practices and Conduct, was the first of its kind in the country and was aimed at promoting the highest standards of corporate governance in South Africa.
Over and above the financial and regulatory aspects of corporate governance, King I advocated an integrated approach to the good governance in the interests of a wide range of stakeholders. Although groundbreaking at the time, the evolving global economic environment together with recent legislative developments, have necessitated that King I be updated. To this end, the King Committee on Corporate Governance developed the King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, 2002 (King II).
King II acknowledges that there is a move away from the single bottom line (that is, profit for shareholders) to a triple bottom line, which embraces the economic, environmental and social aspects of a company's activities.