King V: The Godfather's enduring legacy

GGi CEO Andrew Corbett-Nolan reflects on ‘a blueprint for governance in this fractured world’

I used to live in the shadow of Table Mountain, where ancient granite meets the relentless churn of the Atlantic. It is an inspiring place. Here a quiet revolution in corporate governance stirs once more. On 31 October 2025, the Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) unveiled King V – the fifth incarnation of the seminal King Committee reports that have reshaped how organisations wield power across continents.

This is no mere update; it is a clarion call for governance as a living, breathing force – resilient, ethical, and attuned to the tempests of our age. At its helm, figuratively speaking, stands the indomitable Judge Mervyn King, the godfather of modern corporate governance, whose fingerprints grace every principle. For those of us who have walked in Mervyn’s orbit, King V feels less like a document and more like a dispatch from a trusted mentor: urgent, wise and unyieldingly human.

I first crossed paths with Mervyn King a quarter-century ago, when ideas about stewardship were still embryonic. Over dinners laced with his trademark blend of Socratic probing and irrepressible wit, he became more than an inspiration – he became a friend. His vision of governance not as a checklist but as a moral compass has shaped my own journey, from the frontlines of public sector reform to my roles as CEO of GGi. I am exceedingly proud to have been asked to join him on the board of the Good Governance Academy in Johannesburg, which Mervyn himself founded. He has long championed GGi's mission to embed ethical governance in the DNA of organisations, offering his counsel and endorsement at pivotal moments.

Above: Judge Mervyn King (centre front), with GGi staff in 2018.

During an interview we filmed in 2020, amid the early shadows of the pandemic, he reflected on the birth of the King Committee, recounting how Nelson Mandela – a man he knew from chairing Operation Hunger to feed millions of children during apartheid's grip – urged him to lead it without charge, for the ‘best interests of South Africa Inc.’ ‘Puts their hand on their hearts’, Mandela had said, a phrase Mervyn echoed to me, reminding us governance must transcend profit for the collective good. "Governance," he once told me over a glass of Chenin Blanc, "is the art of stewarding tomorrow's inheritance today." With King V, that art evolves, and GGi stands ready to illuminate its strokes.

A modernising masterpiece

What makes King V a modernising masterpiece? At its core, it dismantles the silos of yesteryear, embracing a modular architecture that breathes accessibility into the code.

Gone is the monolithic tome of King IV; in its place, four interconnected pillars – Foundational Concepts, The Code, Glossary, and a groundbreaking Disclosure Framework – linked digitally for seamless navigation. This is not cosmetic. By paring down principles from 17 to 13, King V sharpens focus, consolidating redundancies like the fusion of governing body roles and evaluations into a single, potent directive.

King V is governance distilled: fewer words, deeper impact.

Yet the alchemy lies in its confrontation with our era's existential riddles. Climate chaos – wildfires scorching supply chains, floods submerging factories – demands more than platitudes. King V mandates double materiality in sustainability reporting, a seismic shift from King IV's implicit nudge. Organisations must now disclose not just how environmental perils dent their balance sheets, but how their operations ripple across societies and ecosystems.

Aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), this principle echoes the Ubuntu-Botho philosophy Mervyn has long woven into the King tapestry: ‘I am because we all are’. It's a reminder that no boardroom is an island; governance must safeguard the socio-ecological web that sustains us.

In our 2020 interview, as we grappled with ‘coronanomics’ – his coined term for the entwined economic and viral crises – Mervyn warned of water's scarcity as the next global flashpoint, from Himalayan dams pitting nuclear powers against each other to the Nile's lifeblood for Egypt. "Water is a critical, critical natural asset," he said, his voice steady with the weight of decades. "One quarter of the world's people went to bed without potable water last night." His prescience then fuels King V's urgency now.

Audited algorithms

Technology, that double-edged sword of innovation and peril, receives its own reckoning. In a world where generative AI can conjure deepfakes or democratise decision-making overnight, King V carves out dedicated practices for data, information, and tech governance. AI is not a footnote; it is now a fiduciary duty. Boards must ensure its deployment honours ethics, transparency, explainability, and human-centricity – values Mervyn has championed since the dial-up days. Imagine: algorithms audited like executives; their biases dissected under the glare of stakeholder scrutiny. Far from being Luddite caution this is prescient prudence, equipping leaders to harness disruption without unleashing dystopia.

Drawing from his barrister days, Mervyn once shared with me the story of an executive who, facing retrenchments in a textile empire battered by global tides, voted against his own job to safeguard the company's health – a vivid lesson in "independence as a state of mind," not mere tenure caps. "That's true independence," he affirmed, "crossing the intellectual Rubicon, leaving behind fear, greed, arrogance, and sloth."

Stakeholder inclusivity pulses through King V's veins, redefining ‘best interests’ as long-term flourishing within economic, social, and environmental contexts. Independence criteria for board members are refined – tenure capped at nine years as one facet of a holistic assessment, prioritising substance over form. Committees, from risk to social and ethics, gain fortified compositions: majorities of non-executives, laced with independents, to pierce the veil of complacency. Remuneration disclosures simplify under Companies Act amendments, yet retain their bite, ensuring pay mirrors purpose, not just profit.

Integrated thinking

These evolutions are far from abstract. They are daily being battle-tested as the response to our poor world’s fractures – inequality's chasm, corruption's shadow, geopolitical tremors from Ukraine to the Middle East. King V urges integrated thinking, weaving these threads into strategic fabric rather than patching them ad hoc. As Mervyn reflected in the report's acknowledgements, his ‘enduring wisdom’ underpins this resilience: a nod to the man who, from King I in 1994, has elevated governance from a compliance chore to a strategic superpower.

In our dialogues, he contrasted the Nuremberg Trials' reckoning – where ethics trumped twisted laws – with Milton Friedman's profit-at-all-costs creed. "Even at the cost to society and the environment?" he posed rhetorically, dismantling shareholder primacy with the precision of a silk. Good governance, he insisted, demands "conscious leadership... mindful that decisions serve the long-term health of the company," not fleeting gains.

A kindred manifesto

At GGi, we see King V not as distant scripture but as a kindred manifesto. Our work – from bespoke governance diagnostics for major UK public institutions to universities developing tomorrow's stewards – mirrors its imperatives. And with Mervyn's steadfast support – his keynotes at our Festivals of Governance and his warm words in 2020 praising GGi's ‘massive understanding’ and impact – we bridge King V's ideals to practice.

We have collaborated on thinking to embed his ideas into our board development programmes and simulations, turning theory into muscle memory. In an age of fleeting scandals, where trust erodes faster than ice caps, GGi's mission aligns seamlessly: to foster organisations that do more than just endure but ennoble. As Mervyn put it to me many times, directors must be the ‘conscience of the company’, interrogating not accepting, for in a poorly governed world, a well-governed entity shines as a beacon.

King V arrives at a precipice. Governance is not about avoiding falls; it is about learning to fly. With its streamlined clarity, ethical North Star, and forward gaze, this code equips us to soar through volatility.

For boards worldwide, King V is a summons: audit your AI, interrogate your impacts, honour your hidden stakeholders. At GGi, we work to amplify this call – through our workshops, reports, networks, reviews ensuring Mervyn's legacy does more than whisper in an ear but, like a good South African lion, roars his message.

In the end, King V reminds us that governance is stewardship of the sacred: people, planet, and prosperity. Seeing it finally published, I must raise a virtual toast to my friend of 25 years. As he would say, ‘The future isn't inherited; it's governed’.