PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES INSOUTHERN AFRICA BY SOUTH AFRICAN COMPANIES

Southern Africa today is characterised by poverty, a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, war,conflict, unemployment and food shortages. What is lacking, but clearly necessary for theadvancement of the region, is the promotion of sustainable development practices. Thechallenge is for Southern Africa to reverse its present decline with the active help of business.This study assesses how South African companies are currently operating in Southern Africa,in terms of their promotion of sustainable development practices, and highlights factors thatcurtail company adoption/promotion of sustainable development.In-depth, semi-structured interviews were held with managers in twenty South Africancompanies with operations in the rest of Southern Africa to assess their promotion ofsustainable development practices. The main findings are that companies promote a numberof sustainable development practices at varying degrees. However it is clear that to achievethe advancement of the region, there needs to be an increase the current level of promotionof sustainable development practices. Secondly, the findings indicate that the primaryinhibiting factors to the promotion of sustainable development practices are lack of financialresources, wrong mindset, nature of company business, limited adoption of sustainabledevelopment practices in South Africa, the underdevelopment of economies in the SouthernAfrican countries, and the lack of political buy in of senior management.