Bridging the economic divide in the Republic of South Africa: A corporate social responsibility perspective

Abstract

Abstract Almost 15 years since the end of apartheid rule in the Republic of South Africa, the society is still profoundly bifurcated today as it was in 1994 when the first nonracial general elections were held. A majority of the population is impoverished, official unemployment is staggering, the economy has cooled, wealth/income is grossly unevenly distributed (particularly along racial lines), crime has soared, HIV/AIDS is debilitating, and the population is getting restless. This inquiry discusses how and what the business community is doing in the manner of “giving back” to the community, via corporate social responsibility, to help ameliorate the untenable situation. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.