SA’s corporates must wake up to social and environmental roles
Catastrophic threats loom — yet the business sector largely does not take them seriously
After SA’s miraculous escape from its descent into corruption-induced chaos, we are once again "open for business", as politicians and captains of industry like to say at gatherings such as Davos. But what kind of business are they talking about? Will our corporate sector, especially the mining and financial industries, revert to behind-closed-doors lobbying and self-interested short-termism? Or will it view this second chance as an opportunity to become better corporate citizens? BlackRock CEO Larry Fink wrote in his 2018 letter to CEOs about the increasing expectations across the globe for companies to be more than just creators of financial value: "To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society." Much of our corporate sector is not taking these expectations seriously. SA faces catastrophic environmental threats, with devastating social implications: climate change, water scarcity, leth...
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