Corporate social investment has the power to unleash “the generosity of strangers” to address South Africa’s inequality, poverty and unemployment, and the indignities imposed by those ills, says former Public Protector, Professor Thuli Madonsela, now Social Justice Chair at the Stellenbosch University Law Faculty.
In doing so, she says, CSI will help unlock the so-called democracy dividend, enabling South Africans to embrace and benefit not only democracy, but their freedom, and to have a stake in nurturing faith in democracy and humanity.
Prof Madonsela was delivering the keynote address at the eleventh annual Trialogue Business in Society Conference in Johannesburg today (SUBS: Tuesday 8 May 2018). The two-day conference has around 450 delegates from corporates, non-profits, government, universities and media.
She recounted how her own parents – a former farmworker and a domestic worker – could only afford to pay for her schooling until Grade Seven. But she was able to secure scholarships and grants to be able to pursue the career of her choice.
“That meant I have the privilege of being at the forefront of the democracy dividend, a position of social, political and economic power, that brings with it an obligation to ensure social justice,” says Prof. Madonsela.
“Business is in a position of power and privilege and business has a voice, in the same way that when you become an Advocate, you have a voice. It also means that you have an obligation to leverage your influence for good,” she explains.
That extends to ethical business, says Prof Madonsela, explaining that even the most vigorous CSI effort can’t compensate for a business underpaying its employees or suppliers, or overcharging its customers.
She cited the African proverb that “It takes a village to raise a child” and suggested that all South Africans, including business, have an important role in driving social justice.
The indignities imposed by poverty, inequality and unemployment can imperil democracy. As a counterpoint, effective CSI can drive justice, where the Millennium Development Goals become community goals, and where social justice has the power to help insulate a nascent democracy from the peril of corruption and exclusion, and inequality between and within communities.
“It may take hundreds of years to address the legacy of apartheid, but even if apartheid had never happened, it would still be our duty to make sure nobody is left behind. CSI might not be able to end inequality but it can reduce its extremity,” suggests Prof Madonsela.
She encouraged delegates to the conference to examine the role of business in helping to bring about systemic social change by supporting social justice interventions.
Inaugural Trialogue research on social justice in 2017 found that only 11% of South African companies support social justice interventions, with less than 1% of total corporate social investment (CSI) spend allocated to this issue.
The conference line-up includes 55 outstanding commentators and panellists (see http://trialogue.co.za/speakers/. For more information: http://trialogue.co.za/trialogue-business-society-conference-2018/
Former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, Prof. Madonsela is a Paul Harris Fellow, Tallberg Global Leader, the recipient of Transparency International’s Integrity Award, the German Africa Prize and the Commonwealth Lawyers Truth and Justice Award, among numerous accolades.
