Maintaining our moral compass

For Motus, integrity means always acting with honesty, fairness and transparency, conducting our business with diligence, and respecting each other, our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders, and the communities in which we operate.

Our Code of Ethics sets the standard of ethical conduct that is expected of all our employees. We strive to ensure that the way we behave, the decisions we make and the actions we take reflect our values; the foundation for our ethical culture. Our values require us to be fair, accountable and driven, and to ensure that we operate in an environmentally friendly and responsible manner. Together our ethical culture and our values enable us to explain our decision-making when held to account by our stakeholders.

Every employee is responsible for exercising good judgement and obtaining guidance on appropriate business conduct, when needed. Our Code of Ethics, leaders, standard operating systems and values guide them in this responsibility.

Our memberships in professional bodies and institutes require adherence to professional codes of conduct and they allow us to engage more broadly on key matters such as the detection, monitoring and elimination of corruption, fraud and criminal activities. Through the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) we have kept abreast of the Financial Intelligence Centre's (FIC) initiative to lessen criminal activity. We are a member of the Gordon Institute of Business Science Ethics and Governance Think Tank, which gives us access to thought leadership on ethics management.

Unethical behaviour is not tolerated. Decisive action is taken when matters relating to unbecoming conduct are brought to our attention. All fraudulent matters are reported to the relevant authorities.

What we are doing

Training and awareness

Ethics and anti-fraud and corruption awareness and training, customised for each business segment and region, ensures that our people understand the behaviours we expect of them. Training covers the content and principles of our Code of Ethics and explains the types of incidents identified through the Motus whistle-blowing hotline.

Whistle-blowing hotline

Independent service providers manage our whistle-blowing hotline, which supports anonymous and confidential reporting by all stakeholders. Any concerns relating to unlawful, dishonest, disrespectful and environmentally unfriendly behaviour can be reported. All instances of alleged misconduct are taken seriously, and are investigated and resolved in line with our internal policies. Reports are closed only after having been discussed with the appropriate managers. This applies to tip-offs received through the whistle-blowing hotline, reported to management or received through any other compliance oversight channel.

Our employees in the United Kingdom (UK) have access to Safecall, which allows them to anonymously raise problems concerning top management. In Australia, the Speeki application (app) and website enable all employees to speak out anonymously. This reporting tool was introduced in 2021 and indications are that employees are comfortable to use it. In the Rest of Africa there is a dedicated email address for employees to report unethical behaviour. All emails are received by the operation's CEO.

Ethics Self Declaration Programme

Our Ethics Self Declaration Programme in South Africa is an annual online confirmation process where select employees self-declare any conflict of interest and their compliance with our policies and ethical standards. It applies to the Group's Code of Ethics, anti-bribery and corruption policy, conflicts of interest policy, supply chain code of conduct and policy statement on relationships in the workplace. It also allows these employees to raise any non-compliance matters they are aware of and ask for training on our policies. The programme applies to all Executive Committee members and their direct reports, and employees operating in business segments who have been identified as having to self-declare based on their roles, for example, all employees in our financial service provider (FSP) businesses are covered by the programme. Annual self-declaration is mandatory for Group and business segment executives.

Declarations of conflicts of interest are reported at divisional meetings for our UK and Australian operations.

Ethical and responsible business conduct in the value chain

The majority of the products we sell are sourced directly from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), with most of our supplier contracts being of a long term nature. We expect our suppliers to abide by the terms set out in our Code of Ethics and supply chain code of conduct, which states that Motus considers social, environmental and fair economic business principles as key elements in business award decisions both for new and existing suppliers. The regional operations adapt the Group's supply chain code of conduct to meet their own supplier requirements.

Suppliers are expected to comply with all laws and regulations that apply to them in all jurisdictions of operation, and when legislation is lower than the international standards outlined in our supply chain code of conduct, suppliers are required to adopt our higher standards. Our suppliers are also expected to prevent any contravention of human rights, ensure that there are no discriminatory practices in their organisations, employ practices that reduce health and safety risks as far as reasonably possible, and prevent or mitigate environmental impacts that their business activities may cause or contribute to, or which may be directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships.

Aftermarket Parts' membership of Nexus enables it to buy directly from either MTS Systems Corporation (a global supplier of test systems and industrial position sensors) or ARCO Motor Industry (a professional engine parts exporter). Suppliers are audited in terms of their standards, specifications and processes. The Nexus vetting service is available to its members both for current and new suppliers. Vetting is aligned to European Union standards, and covers labour legislation, health and safety, and corruption.

We will not hesitate to terminate or re-negotiate agreements and relationships that contravene international human rights standards.

In South Africa, broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) status and/or contribution to enterprise and supplier development are additional criteria that are considered when selecting suppliers.

We reserve the right to audit supplier sites, whether by an internal team or through the use of a third party appointed by the Group to verify conformance to our requirements. Our assessment of our suppliers' ESG performance is limited.

Human rights

We adhere to the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the South African Constitution and the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. In line with regulatory requirements, we provide an annual anti-modern day slavery statement on our website in the UK, and in Australia we report annually against the requirements of the Modern Day Slavery Act. Our human resources policies in each of these operations incorporate the necessary regulatory requirements as they relate to modern day slavery and human trafficking.

How we measure our performance

Internal audits cover risks relating to bribery and corruption, unethical business practices, human rights and ethical conduct awareness. All reports to the whistle-blowing hotline are monitored and investigated, including those relating to working conditions and the number of hours worked. Business segments and regions conduct their own employee engagement surveys; however, all surveys include a question on integrity and honesty, and the level of transparency within the operation. This allows us to understand how our employees view ethics and our ethical conduct. To date, no material concerns have been raised in these questions.

Governance of ethics and compliance.