DEVELOPMENT TOPICS: Social justice and advocacy
Social and economic inequality remain deeply entrenched in Africa and have worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a G20 report, ‘Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality’, the world’s top 1% captured 41% of all new wealth, with just 1% going to the bottom 50%, between 2000 and 2024.
African women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty, often performing unpaid labour and having limited access to education and skills development. There is also typically a divide between urban and rural areas, with urban areas receiving better resources and services.
Widespread corruption and human rights violations further entrench inequality, creating a vicious cycle of poverty and exclusion. Deepening inequality is problematic as it threatens national and regional stability, economic progress, and opportunities for future generations.
There are, therefore, many reasons to fund social justice and advocacy initiatives – not least of all because companies cannot thrive in unstable societies.
Why is social justice and advocacy important?
In an unequal world, everyone deserves access to fundamental human rights, regardless of their age, gender, economic status, or social background.
Beyond legal equality, achieving true social justice requires addressing systemic barriers that prevent marginalised groups from fully participating in society.
Investing in social justice advocacy means supporting initiatives that:
- Expose power imbalances and hold corporations and governments to account.
- Address systemic inequality in wealth, resources and opportunities.
- Ensure fair access to education, employment, and legal protection.
- Empower underrepresented communities to participate in decision-making.
Although few companies engage with social justice advocacy, corporate involvement can play a meaningful role in tackling inequality and exclusion. A more just society fosters economic stability, which benefits companies in the long run, and fair workplaces improve employee morale, retention, and brand reputation.
Businesses can contribute to systemic change by making the following investments:
- Fund research and advocacy. Policy research can influence government decisions, and nonprofits, think tanks, and academic institutions are often best placed to tackle inequality.
- Strengthen legal and democratic institutions – for example, provide funding for legal aid services to support marginalised communities, or invest in pro-democracy initiatives that promote free and fair elections.
- Support media freedom and protect whistleblowers to ensure accountability and expose abuse and corruption.
- Make sure corporate accountability and ethical business practices are top of mind. This can be done by ensuring fair wages and ethical labour practices within supply chains, and committing to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the workplace.
- Fund educational campaigns on human rights, labour rights, and civic participation, and partner with nonprofits and advocacy groups to drive policy change.
Discover how your company can do more by exploring insights on CSI in social justice and advocacy.
South African national context
- According to the World Bank, South Africa has the highest income inequality in the world, with a Gini coefficient of 0.67. The wealthiest 20% of South Africa’s population hold nearly 70% of the income, while the poorest 40% of South Africans hold 7% of the national income.
- South Africa also has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world at 33.2% (8.4 million unemployed people), with an expanded unemployment rate – which includes those who are not looking for work – of 42.9% overall and 62.1% for youth (Stats SA data for the second quarter of 2025).
- The National Development Plan estimates that South Africa needs 55 000 social service professionals by 2030. The government employed 23 561 professionals as at September 2024, indicating that many vulnerable children, families and youth lack access to essential help.
- In April 2025, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi revealed that 155 children under five with moderate or severe acute malnutrition had died in public health facilities between January and April 2025. In 2024, at least 766 children under five died from malnutrition. Cases of malnutrition in children under five have increased by 26% since 2019.
- Despite the Life Esidimeni Inquest in 2024 finding that the former Gauteng Health MEC and former head of mental health could be held responsible for the deaths of at least nine patients, as at October 2025, the National Prosecuting Authority had not yet prosecuted anyone. In August 2025, there were indications of possible charges for two deaths. There have also been no prosecutions for the 34 miners killed at Marikana on 16 August 2012. Government has paid over R350 million in compensation to victims’ families. And two years on from the Usindiso building fire in Marshalltown, which claimed 77 lives, the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, which found the City of Johannesburg and JPC partly liable, have not been fully implemented. One suspect is on trial.
- Speaking at the 7th Annual Social Justice Summit on 17 October 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa said one of the targets in the Medium-Term Development Plan is to reduce the proportion of South Africans living below the food poverty line from 30% in 2022 to 25% by 2029. It also aims to reduce the number of people vulnerable to hunger from 5.4 million to below 2.9 million over the same period.
Overview of CSI spend
Social justice and advocacy initiatives were supported by 17% of companies and received less than 1% of average CSI expenditure.
- Constitutional awareness and education accounted for nearly half of social justice and advocacy spend (44%) in 2025, marking a significant increase from 25% in 2024. These large fluctuations are most likely due to the small sample sizes.
- Support for media freedom (6%) received the smallest portion of spend in this sector, although this still represents an increase from only 1% in 2024.
- A quarter of average social justice and advocacy spend in 2025 went to other intervention types. Four companies reported supporting sector initiatives including board placements, university collaborations and civil society forums.
