South African divergence, not indifference

Divergence of priorities

Markus Reichardt, Ethical Corporation analyst and independent consultant for the mining industry, observes that South African corporate sustainability may pay “more attention to social issues than is common in the developed world.”

In a recent Ethical Corporation survey completed by 124 sustainability professionals in South Africa, community engagement and partnerships ranked much higher on the list of key activities than they have in similar surveys in other regions. Both activities were listed as one of the top three activities by 27% of respondents.

Corporate sustainability in South Africa demonstrates a well-developed awareness: “it generally understands the concept in same the holistic sense common to European business: the challenge to balance the needs of the Economy, the Environment and Society.”

While public sector priorities display a more narrow focus: “the Government, despite rhetoric to the contrary, is primarily concerned with the economic and social aspects.”

Since 1994 the Government has developed the country’s legal framework, passing laws in the labour, human rights, environmental, and freedom of information spheres which have transformed the corporate environment.

Employees exercise their sustainability concerns as well. Nick Rockey of Trialogue estimates that in-kind contributions, employee matching programs and volunteerism easily treble the value contributed by South African business to the various causes of its diverse society.

Global initiatives are playing an increasing role. Popularity of and support for the GRI, the ICMM and other standards-setting organisations has increased substantially in the past few years.

Tangible support for sustainability

New survey results - using a sample of 124 individuals working on sustainability in South Africa – indicate relatively large corporate sustainability budgets. 58% of sustainability survey respondents state that their sustainability budgets exceed 358,000 Rands (roughly 30,000 GBPs).

This contrasts with previous global figures of only 24% of sustainability survey respondents operating with a budget over 30,000 GBPs. (note: this global sample contains mainly European professionals)

“These days sustainability, as CSR is often referred to South Africa, continues to be taken seriously in the country. Surveys by sustainability consultancy Trialogue show that CSI contributions have kept pace with inflation over the past decade and were unaffected by the current recession, rising 24% year on year to ZAR 5.1 billion for the 2008/09 financial year.”

Such budgets may reflect the nature of survey respondents (respondents were primarily from large multinational firms), the large scale of key industries in South Africa (heavy industry), or the palpable need for sustainability given proximity to the negative impacts of business.

Interpret the results as you will. But, you can’t deny that support for sustainability will continue to grow in South Africa.