Given our own recent history, as South Africans, we are particularly conscious of human and civil rights. In doing business, we work within the laws of the countries where we operate.

MTN is acutely aware of the human rights and privacy dimensions that impact any company in the telecommunications sector. MTN operates within strict ethical principles that dictate what we do and how we behave. We expect our partners to operate within a similar framework.

In early 2012, we set up a Board Social and Ethics Committee which provides guidance on how we handle complicated issues, including human and civil rights. We believe also there is a role for international bodies to draw up suitable codes of engagement with governments, and MTN is keen to draw on the expertise of third parties to think through how these issues are handled. Click here to learn more about MTN and Iran.

MTN Group supports complete freedom of association, although across our countries of operation, very few of our employees belong to unions. Of employees in our South African operations, 8,76% belong to trade unions. Procedures for consulting our employees are in place across all our operations and are driven by the head of human resources in our operations. Diversity is a cornerstone of MTN’s success: employees continue to express enthusiasm about ‘the international nature of the Company’, where 55 nationalities are represented. Our Code of Ethics specifies the right of non-discrimination in terms of race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, place of origin, citizenship, creed, political persuasion, age, marital or family status or disability.