Challenges to Reforming CSR Standards into Laws in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region

The concept of corporate social responsibility is a phenomenon that has since made global waves in more ways than one. The concept itself is yet to have a definite definition however, the impact of the concept has far more reaching debates than the term having a definition. Building on the foundation that businesses or corporations are a part of a society and that citizenship is based on shared understanding of the basic social and political rights, sometimes this realization is hampered by poor coordination and lack of logic connecting the various initiatives involved with the concept. With the increasing presence and influence of multinational corporations in the world economy, Southern African Development Community (SADC) included, there are frameworks and policies that need to constantly be amended to cater for the changes that are occurring in the business sphere. This has led to CSR nowadays being characterized by an increasing legalization and becoming an element of the regulatory toolbox of governments. Most of the growing interest in legalizing the notion stems from the fact that international organizations, foreign governments, and civil groups are always working to integrate the concept in legislation. Despite this move, there is still a lack in most of the SADC states in understanding the concept in its wholeness and the complexities of the phenomena, lack of civil society participation and constitutional and political gaps which then impedes the reforming of the standards into laws. Some of the countries in the region or even the region as a whole fail to understand that the concept of CSR has advanced beyond the philanthropy stage therefore has stunted the advancement of the phenomena beyond this understanding. The concept of CSR is a complex one but at its core it encompasses principles of transparency, accountability and sustainability. Moreover, CSR can be viewed as a revolutionary way of contributing to systematic social changes in which investments can produce lasting social benefits when well implemented.