Introducing CSR - The Missing Ingredient in the Land Reform Recipe?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2014/v17i2a2184Keywords:
CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility, Land Reform, Access to Land, Restitution, Redistribution, Land Reform Programme, Post-Settlement Support.Abstract
In reaction to the unequal land ownership brought about by decades of apartheid, the first democratically elected government embarked on an extensive land reform programme - a programme consisting of the three constitutionally protected pillars: restitution, redistribution and tenure reform. The aim of this programme is not only to provide for restitution to persons who lost their land as a result of racially based measures, but also provide previously disadvantaged South Africans with access to land in order to address the unequal land ownership. This research focuses on the restitution and redistribution pillars of the land reform programme.
The progress made in terms of both these sub-programmes has been disappointing. With reference to redistribution the government has set the target to redistribute 30% of white owned commercial agricultural land to black persons by 2014. To date, less than 10% of this target has been achieved and all indications are that the overwhelming majority of land which has been redistributed is not being used productively or have fallen into a state of total neglect. The state of the redistributed land can be attributed to a variety of causes, with the main cause being the government's inability to provide proper post-settlement support to land reform beneficiaries.
Against this background it is clear that alternative options have to be identified in order to improve the result of land reform. This article identifies corporate social responsibility (CSR) as one of the missing ingredients in the recipe for a successful land reform programme. The article introduces CSR and discusses the business case for CSR; identifies its benefits; considers its possible limitations; and examines the major drivers behind the notion. From the discussion of these topics it will become evident that an assumption of social responsibility by businesses in especially the agricultural sector might contribute to an improved land reform programme.
Downloads
References
Bibliography
Allouche Corporate Social Responsibility
Allouche J (ed) Corporate Social Responsibility Volume 1 - Concepts, Accountability and Reporting (Palgrave Macmillan Hampshire 2006)
Auger 2003 Journal of Business Ethics
Auger P et al "What will consumers pay for social product features?" 2003 Journal of Business Ethics 281-304
Barnett 2007 Academy of Management Review
Barnett M "Stakeholder influence capacity and the variability of financial returns to Corporate Social Responsibility" 2007 Academy of Management Review 794-816
Bhattacharya and Sen 2004 California Management Review
Bhattacharya C and Sen S "Doing better at doing good: When, why and how consumers respond to corporate social initiatives" 2004 California Management Review 9-24
Birch and Littlewood 2004 Journal of Corporate Citizenship
Birch D and Littlewood G "Corporate citizenship: Some perspectives from Australian CEOs" 2004 Journal of Corporate Citizenship 61-69
Blowfield and Frynas 2005 International Affairs
Blowfield M and Frynas G "Setting new agendas: critical perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility in the developing world" 2005 International Affairs 499-513
Boeger, Murray and Villiers Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility
Boeger N, Murray R and Villiers C (eds) Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility (Edward Elgar Cheltenham 2008)
Borras 2006 Journal of Agrarian Change
Borras S "The Philippine land reform in comparative perspective: Some conceptual methodological implications" 2006 Journal of Agrarian Change 69-101
Bosman Land Reform
Bosman F Land Reform: A Contextual Analysis (FW de Klerk Foundation Johannesburg 2007)
Bromley 1995 Land Use Policy
Bromley D "South Africa - where land reform meets land restitution" 1995 Land Use Policy 99-103
Burke and Logsdon 1996 Long Range Planning
Burke L and Logsdon J "How Corporate Social Responsibility pays off" 1996 Long Range Planning 495-502
Carroll "Ethical Challenges"
Carroll A "Ethical Challenges for Business in the New Millennium: Corporate Social Responsibility and Models of Management Morality" in Richardson J (ed) Business Ethics 01/0 (McGraw-Hill Guilford 2001) 198-203
CDE Land Reform
Centre for Development and Enterprise Land Reform in South Africa - A 21st Century Perspective (Centre for Development and Enterprise Johannesburg 2005)
Crane Oxford Handbook
Crane A et al (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility (Oxford University Press Oxford 2008)
Davis 1973 Academy of Management Review
Davis K "The case for and against business assumption of social responsibilities" 1973 Academy of Management Review 312-322
Department of Agriculture LARP
Department of Agriculture The Land and Agrarian Reform Project (LARP) Concept Document (The Department Pretoria 2008)
DRDLR Strategic Plan
Department of Rural Development and Land Reform Strategic Plan 2011-2014 (The Department Pretoria 2011)
De Villiers Land Reform
De Villiers B Land Reform: Issues and Challenges (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Johannesburg 2003)
De Wet CSI Handbook
De Wet H (ed) The CSI Handbook 12th ed (Trialogue Cape Town 2009)
Den Hond, De Bakker and Neergaard Managing Corporate Social Responsibility
Den Hond F, De Bakker F and Neergaard P (eds) Managing Corporate Social Responsibility in Action (Ashgate Surrey 2007)
Drucker 1984 California Management Review
Drucker P "The new meaning of corporate social responsibility" 1984 California Management Review 53-63
Du Plessis, Pienaar and Olivier 2009 SA Public Law
Du Plessis W, Pienaar J and Olivier N "Land matters and rural development: 2009 (2)" 2009 SA Public Law 588-610
Epstein and Roy 2001 Long Range Planning
Epstein M and Roy M "Sustainability in action: Identifying and measuring the key performance drivers" 2001 Long Range Planning 585-604
EC COM(2001) 366
European Commission Green Paper - Promoting a European framework for Corporate Social Responsibility (COM(2001) 366) (European Commission Brussels 2001)
EC COM(2011) 681
European Commission A Renewed EU Strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility (COM(2011) 681) (European Commission Brussels 2011)
Fig Staking Their Claims
Fig D (ed) Staking Their Claims - Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in South Africa (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press Scottsville 2007)
Fox, Ward and Howard Public Sector Roles
Fox T, Ward H and Howard B Public Sector Roles in Strengthening Corporate Social Responsibility: A Baseline Study (World Bank Washington 2002)
Freeman and Liedtka 1991 Business Horizons
Freeman E and Liedtka J "Corporate Social Responsibility: A critical approach" 1991 (Jul-Aug) Business Horizons 92-98
Frynas 2005 International Affairs
Frynas G "The false developmental promise of Corporate Social Responsibility: evidence from multinational oil companies" 2005 International Affairs 581-598
Geva 2008 Business and Society Review
Geva A "Three models of corporate social responsibility: Interrelationships between theory, research, and practice" 2008 Business and Society Review 1-41
Griffin and Mahon 1997 Business and Society
Griffin J and Mahon J "The corporate social performance and corporate social financial performance debate: Twenty-five years of incomplete research" 1997 Business and Society 5-31
Hall 2004 Review of African Political Economy
Hall R "A political economy of land reform in South Africa" 2004 Review of African Political Economy 213-227
Hall 2004 Canadian Journal of African Studies
Hall R "Land restitution in South Africa: Rights, development, and the restrained State" 2004 Canadian Journal of African Studies 654-671
Hamann, Khagram and Rohan 2008 Journal of Southern African Studies
Hamann R, Khagram S and Rohan S "South Africa's charter approach to post-apartheid economic transformation: Collaborative governance or hardball bargaining?" 2008 Journal of Southern African Studies 21-37
Heal 2005 Geneva Papers
Heal G "Corporate social responsibility: An economic and financial framework" 2005 The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Issues and Practice 387-409
Husted and Salazar 2006 Journal of Management Studies
Husted B and Salazar J "Taking Friedman seriously: Maximizing profits and social performance" 2006 Journal of Management Studies 75-91
IoD King Report
Institute of Directors in Southern Africa King Report on Governance for South Africa – 2009 (The Institute Parklands 2009)
ISO Guidance on Social Responsibility
International Standards Organisation Guidance on Social Responsibility (ISO Geneva 2010)
Jenkins 2005 International Affairs
Jenkins R "Globalization, Corporate Social Responsibility and Poverty" 2005 International Affairs 525-540
Klein and Dawar 2004 Journal of Research in Marketing
Klein J and Dawar N "Corporate Social Responsibility and consumers' attributions and brand evaluations in a product-harm crisis" 2004 Journal of Research in Marketing 203-217
Kloppers Improving Land Reform
Kloppers HJ Improving Land Reform Through CSR: A Legal Framework Analysis (LLD-thesis NWU 2012)
Kong 2002 European Management Journal
Kong N et al "Moving business/industry towards sustainable consumption: The role of NGOs" 2002 European Management Journal 109-127
Lantos 2001 Journal of Consumer Marketing
Lantos G "The boundaries of strategic corporate social responsibility" 2001 Journal of Consumer Marketing 595-630
Lawrence and Weber Business and Society
Lawrence A and Weber J Business and Society - Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy 13th ed (McGraw-Hill New York 2011)
Margolis and Walsh 2003 Administrative Science Quarterly
Margolis J and Walsh J "Misery loves companies: Rethinking social initiatives by business" 2003 Administrative Science Quarterly 268-305
Mintzberg 1983 Journal of Business Strategy
Mintzberg H "The case for corporate social responsibility" 1983 Journal of Business Strategy 3-15
Moore 2004 Journal of Business Ethics
Moore G "The Fair Trade movement: Parameters, issues, and future research" 2004 Journal of Business Ethics 73-86
Muller 1999 Business Week
Muller J "Ford: The high cost of harassment" 1999 (Nov) Business Week 94-96
Olivier Restitution Operational Strategy
Olivier NJJ et al (eds) Restitution Operational Strategy (CIDA Johannesburg 2010)
Prieto-Carrón 2006 International Affairs
Prieto-Carrón M et al "Critical perspectives on CSR and development: What we know, what we don't know, and what we need to know" 2006 International Affairs 977-987
Porter and Kramer 2006 Harvard Business Review
Porter M and Kramer M "Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility" 2006 Harvard Business Review 78-92
Preston and O'Bannon 1997 Business and Society
Preston L and O'Bannon D "The corporate social-financial performance relationship: A typology and analysis" 1997 Business and Society 419-430
Raynolds 2002 Sociologia Ruralis
Raynolds L "Consumer/Producer links in Fair Trade coffee networks" 2002 Sociologia Ruralis 404-424
Renard 2003 Journal of Rural Studies
Renard M "Fair trade: Quality, market and conventions" 2003 Journal of Rural Studies 87-96
Sethi 1975 California Management Review
Sethi P "Dimensions of corporate social performance: An analytical rramework" 1975 California Management Review 58-64
Siegel and Vitaliano 2007 Journal of Economics and Management Strategy
Siegel D and Vitaliano D "An empirical analysis of the strategic use of corporate social responsibility" 2007 Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 773-792
Smith Morality and the Market
Smith N Morality and the Market: Consumer Pressure for Corporate Accountability (Routledge London 1990)
Sonnenberg and Hamann 2006 Development Southern Africa
Sonnenberg D and Hamann R "The JSE Socially Responsible Investment Index and the state of sustainability reporting in South Africa" 2006 Development Southern Africa 305-320
Sternberg Just Business
Sternberg E Just Business: Business Ethics in Action (Oxford University Press Oxford 2000)
Swanson "Top Managers"
Swanson DL "Top Managers as Drivers for Corporate Social Responsibility" in Crane A et al (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility (Oxford University Press Oxford 2008) 227-248
The Presidency Medium Term Strategic Framework
The Presidency Together Doing More and Better - Medium Term Strategic Framework (The Presidency Pretoria 2009)
Thorne, Ferrell and Ferrell Business and Society
Thorne D, Ferrell O and Ferrell L Business and Society - A Strategic Approach to Social Responsibility 3rd edition (Houghton Mifflin Boston 2008)
Utting 2003 Global Future
Utting P "Promoting development through Corporate Social Responsibility - Does it work?" 2003 (3) Global Future 11-13
Utting 2005 Development in Practice
Utting P "Corporate responsibility and the movement of business" 2005 Development in Practice 375-388
Van Marrewijk 2003 Journal of Business Ethics
Van Marrewijk M "Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: Between agency and communion" 2003 Journal of Business Ethics 95-105
Vogel Market for Virtue
Vogel D The Market for Virtue: The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility (Brookings Institution Press Washington 2005)
Votaw 1972 California Management Review
Votaw D "Genius became rare: A comment on the doctrine of social responsibility Part 1" 1972 California Management Review 25-31
Walton 2010 Third World Quarterly
Walton A "What is Fair Trade?" 2010 Third World Quarterly 431-447
Ward Legal Issues
Ward H Legal Issues in Corporate Citizenship (IIED London 2003)
Weber 2008 European Management Journal
Weber M "The business case for corporate social responsibility: A company-level measurement approach for CSR" 2008 European Management Journal 247-261
Werther and Chandler Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
Werther W and Chandler D Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility 2nd ed (SAGE Washington DC 2011)
Williams and Zinkin 2008 Business Ethics
Williams G and Zinkin J "The effect of culture on consumers' willingness to punish irresponsible corporate behaviour: Applying Hofstede's typology to the punishment aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility" 2008 Business Ethics: A European Review 210-226
Wood and Jones 1995 International Journal of Organisational Analysis
Wood D and Jones R "Stakeholder mismatching: A theoretical problem in empirical research on corporate social performance" 1995 The International Journal of Organisational Analysis 229-267
Register of legislation and government publications
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
Gen N 110 in GG 29610 of 9 February 2007
GN 314 in GG 30886 of 20 March 2008
Register of internet sources
AFP 2011 www.news24.com
AFP 2011 Black Farmers Selling Land Back to Whites www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Black-farmers-selling-land-back-to-whites-20110831 [date of use 20 Sep 2011]
Anon 2010 www.southafrica.co.za
Anonymous 2010 Agriculture, Forestry and Land www.southafrica.co.za/
about-south-africa/environment/agriculture-forestry-and-land/ [date of use 20 Sep 2011]
Anon 2011 www.gcis.gov.za
Anonymous 2011 Pocket Guide to South Africa 2010/11 Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries www.gcis.gov.za/resource_centre/sa_info/pocketguide/2010/
_agriculture _forestry_and_fisheries.pdf [date of use 21 Nov 2011]
Danish Government http://csrgov.dk/legislation
Danish Government 2009 Legislation http://csrgov.dk/legislation [date of use 5 March 2014]
FOEI 2001 www.foei.org
Friends of the Earth International 2001 Towards a Corporate Accountability Convention www.foei.org/en/resources/link/99/e990506.html/ [date of use 15 Jun 2009]
Mazurkiewicz 2004 siteresources.worldbank.org
Mazurkiewicz P 2004 Corporate Environmental Responsibility: Is a Common CSR Framework Possible? siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTDEVCOMMENG /Resources/csrframework.pdf [date of use 7 Nov 2011]
Nhlabathi 2011 www.sowetanlive.co.za
Nhlabathi H 2011 Malema Calls for Massive Land Grab www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/05/06/malema-calls-for-massive-land-grab [date of use 12 Oct 2011]
Nkwinti 2010a www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za
Nkwinti G 2010a Debate on the Budget Vote of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za/DLA-Internet//content/ document_library/Ministry/Ministry_Minister_Speeches/
Speech2.pdf [date of use 17 Sep 2011]
Nkwinti 2010b www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za
Nkwinti G 2010b Address at the Consultative Meeting with Restitution Beneficiaries www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za/DLA-Internet//content/document
_library/documents/Speeches_and_Media_Statements/Minister/RESTITUTION_SPEECH.pdf [date of use 17 Sep 2011]
Phakati 2011 www.businessday.co.za
Phakati B 2011 Social Grant System not Sustainable, Says Zuma www.businessday.co.za/Articles/Content.aspx?id=159568 [date of use 25 Nov 2011]
Proudly South African Date Unknown www.proudlysa.co.za
Proudly South African Date Unknown About the Campaign - Overview www.proudlysa.co.za/section/about.asp?include=../area/about_us/about.html&title=../gfx/pages/about.jpg [date of use 4 Jun 2009]
Radebe 2011 www.businessday.co.za
Radebe H 2011 DA Targets Communal Land in Reply to Reform Proposals www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=153077 [date of use 12 Sep 2011]
Reuters 2010a www.news24.com
Reuters 2010a SA Can't Meet Land Reform Target www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/SA-cant-meet-land-reform-target-20100226 [date of use 11 Oct 2011]
Reuters 2010b www.news24.com
Reuters 2010b Land Reform Not Helping Blacks www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/ News/Land-reform-not-helping-blacks-20100527 [date of use 19 Sep 2011]
SA Government 2010 www.info.gov.za
South African Government 2010 Agriculture www.info.gov.za/aboutsa/ agriculture.htm [date of use 21 Nov 2011]
SAPA 2010 www.news24.com
SAPA 2010 Use Land or Lose It - Nkwinti www.news24.com/SouthAfrica /News/Use-land-or-lose-it-Nkwinti-20100302 [date of use 19 Sep 2011
SAPA 2011 www.fin24.com
SAPA 2011 Social Grants Now Support 15.2m www.fin24.com/Budget/Mini-Budget-2011/Social-grants-now-support-152m-20111025 [date of use 21 Nov 2011]
SAPA 2011 www.news24.com
SAPA 2011 Malema to Face Criminal Charges www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/ Politics/malema-to-face-criminal-charges-20111020# [date of use 21 Oct 2011]
SAPA 2012 www.fin24.com
SAPA 2012 Nkwinti Spells Out Land Reform Target www.fin24.com/Economy /Nkwinti-spells-out-land-reform-target-20120301-2 [date of access 6 Mar 2012]
Zamagni 2006 www.stthomas.edu
Zamagni S 2006 The Ethical Anchoring of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Critique of CSR www.stthomas.edu/cathstudies/cst/conferences/thegood company/Papers/Zamagni%20on%20CSR%20THE%20E.pdf [date of use 6 Nov 2011]
List of abbreviations
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Henk J Kloppers
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.