Johannesburg - A sustainable future is non-negotiable if
South Africa is to solve problems such as poverty and inequality, Public
Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Friday.
"The environment does matter," he said at a UN
Global Compact Network SA event.
"It is important that issues of the environment and
sustainability are put firmly on our national agenda as different stakeholders
to accumulate a national response to all of these challenges that we are
focusing on."
Gigaba said businesses could no longer be driven by profit
without considering the environment and societies in which they exist.
He said it was important for countries in Africa to sign up
to the Global Compact, because of the enormous challenges facing the continent.
South Africa had to take the lead on matters of sustainability.
Through the National Business Initiative, companies sign up
to 10 sustainability principles in the UN Global Compact Network SA.
Signatories then have to make labour, the environment, human
rights, skills development and anti-corruption part of their strategy.
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