When societies have gone through times of crisis, whether because of war, disease or other adverse factors, “good people” within business have stepped up and found solutions to social problems in partnership with civil society. There was a need to shine light on those instances, said Professor Thuli Madonsela, and explore how such synergies could be strengthened and scaled.
“My vision for a successful conference… and summit would be… a buy-in by more stakeholders for the idea of this integrated action plan to accelerate social justice, the “We’re not suggesting everyone does everything, but each one will contribute according to their ability in their sector… It creates an ecosystem outside your business that feeds your business by ensuring a stable environment.”show that business is the most trusted institution in South Africa. The survey revealed that 62% of respondents trusted business; 61% trusted non-governmental organisations; but only 22% trusted the government.
He added that while there was a transparent, transactional relationship between business, its owners and managers, and the citizens, the relationship between the people and government, especially the ANC government, was a “great deal more complex”. “There is corruption, which we regard as a social injustice on its own… worry that if we galvanise civil society to solve problems, we’re letting government off the hook, but it’s not so,” she said.
“The campaign is supported by a well-known supermarket chain, and this is their tagline… to address gender-based violence… While the support and intentions were noble in this campaign, their understanding of the problem was completely misplaced,” she said. “Could, for example, said supermarket chain consider that its primary workforce, made up of black women, tellers and packers, take home less than R3,500 per month? Could they consider that this is what renders them weak, and possibly unable to leave abusive marriages or relationships… because of economic dependency?” she said.
“We must demand authenticity and transparency from businesses. We must drive these programmes beyond totalistic gestures and see meaningful contributions to social justice. We must see business leaders and that they actually understand the causes they are involved in, rather than outsourcing these responsibilities to committees within the organisations,” he said.
Cities Alliance, a global partnership fighting urban poverty, was put forward by its director, Greg Munro, as a good example of different sectors working together to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. The network includes academic institutions, governments, businesses and civil society organisations across the world.
The business of business is business, or should be. By all means spend $1b on whatever project if the IRR beats our cost of capital hurdle. If it does not, you the C-whatever has absolutely NO business spending the money of me the owner on an ego trip.Is it time to put the World Bank and IMF on trial? Consider 25 charges of wrongdoing to South AfricaWe use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits.