Sustainability Magazine April 2019 | Page 133

and old money . There are very few black people in South Africa with old money . As we put our ESG policies into practice , we ’ ve seen a greater pool of investment opportunities arise amongst people with new money . And that means you ’ re investing in people of colour and women too .”
Manavhela also emphasises the need for consumer education , twinned with added transparency on behalf of companies in order to improve and encourage sustainable practices . “ We still need a lot of education on the consumer side to understand ESG issues ,” she says . “ Customers can ’ t just look at the financial value of a product ; they also need to look at the sustainability aspects . When a product is cheaper , ask yourself , why is it cheaper than the company next door ? Maybe a lot of people have been exploited to make it cheaper , she continues . “ Transparency is something we need to move towards . We need to get to a point where companies disclose employee remuneration , minimum wage within the company and so on . If we move towards a point where we disclose those things , then maybe the consumer will be more aware and more alert , in terms of
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