Civil society

This article looks at how the global economic downturn is making it difficult for companies to contribute to the development of communities through CSI initiatives. The author argues that corporate philanthropy will disappear as companies struggle to emerge from the crisis. Corporate partners can co-donate with their customers and staff to community-based projects implemented by NGOs and other potential beneficiaries. Poverty, inequality and questionable democracy - some of the realities we live with - could be partly addressed through integrated CSI programmes. Apart from CSI, numerous surveys suggest that South African consumers are increasingly influenced by companies’ environmental and social policies when selecting products and services

Government putting unemployment and poverty alleviation so central in the 2010 budget is to be welcomed. However, more must be done to address the structural nature of poverty and inequality.

The newly-appointed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan presented the 2010/11 National Budget to Parliament on 17 February 2010 in Cape Town. As in the past few years, SANGONeT is pleased to present you with the comments and perspectives of various NGOs in response to the budget.Issues covered by the NGO comments range from general observations about the budget to key development priorities such as education, social services, gender, urbanisation, children and health

Continuity is important for ongoing policy development and implementation, and does not result in shocks to either society or the markets. Thus the single most important determinant of this year’s Budget was last year’s insofar as the changes are ones of emphasis and not of direction. Obviously this Budget must also be read within the context of the three year expenditure cycle. The Budget comes within a context of what some commentators believe is the tail end of a world recession. Thus the Budget is mindful of global pressures and uncertainties on domestic economies.