Social investment bosses can ride advocacy wave
Support for groups fighting for social change offers a chance to build trust between companies and communities, writes Bongiwe Mlangeni
Socioeconomic disparities and recent unpredictable political shifts, locally and elsewhere in the world, are challenging the rules of social responsibility. These new circumstances require courage, combined with a frank review of strategies used to solve social problems. A story told by former US ambassador to SA James Joseph aptly illustrates the conundrum. At the Global Summit for Community Philanthropy in Johannesburg in December 2016, Joseph revisited the story of the Good Samaritan who sees an injured man on the street corner and offers help. He comes back the next day and finds another wounded man on the same corner. The pattern persists. At some point, the Good Samaritan is forced to pause and consider the root of the problem. What is inflicting the wounds and bringing suffering to the people daily? It is a question on which corporate SA, which invests more than R9bn annually in social investment, must reflect. More than half of South Africans are living in poverty, Statistic...
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