Kathy Gibson reports – South Africa needs to keep up with global digitalisation, but the increased use of technology brings some serious challenges that need to be addressed.
This is one of the conclusions from the 2024 Voluntary National Review on the Sustainable Development Goals.
The private sector recognises that strategic alignment with the South African National Development plan is vital, with it providing a mechanism for harnessing synergies and surfacing the initiatives, policies, and action that we need to drive together.
However, for South African companies, unprecedented levels of change have resulted in both advances and challenges for sustainability.
Since the last report, the country has experienced a global pandemic, a consistently weak economy, a volatile international trading environment, sustained energy shortages, a disrupted global supply chain, and an accelerated shift in focus across stakeholders toward a more sustainability-conscious mindset.
In this unstable and challenging environment, it has been difficult to attract the investment needed to enable innovation, growth and progress.
Business is benefitting from the end of state capture, although investment is still relatively low.
One way of attracting local and global investment is the provision of transparent and credible information, but sustainability compliance could become a barrier to business for companies that are not compliant with the growing requirements of socially-conscious investors.
The Just Energy Transition is an ambitious objective for accelerated mobilisation of new and sustainable opportunities requiring multifaceted approaches by diverse stakeholders. However, there is a significant skills mismatch between existing roles and emerging roles in green fuel value chains.
A driver for green energy could be the emergence of carbon border taxes that will penalise exports produced with coal-based energy. This will encourage support for a just energy transition to enable clean and affordable energy.
When it comes to digitalisation, companies are extremely concerned about the impact that automation and digital advances have started to have on workforces. While there are critical skills and talent shortages when it comes to technical expertise, there are also reduced requirements for many traditional manual roles.
Companies need to innovate and attain efficiencies if they are to survive, remain competitive, and achieve both sustainability and prosperity outcomes. Many more resource companies are actively engaged in diversification, mobilisation of circular economy business models, and supplier development to nurture symbiotic employment opportunities within their extended value chains. These activities stimulate local employment.
However, the report shows that many companies are not well-positioned to address the impact of disappearing jobs – and are unable to replace the roles shed due to automation and process streamlining technologies. Digital innovation is a double-edged sword, often reducing negative impact on environmental sustainability and addressing inequality, while at the same time contributing to negative social impact by driving unemployment.
The bottom line is that we must create employment opportunities that are aligned with our existing skills profile. The report recommends that the private sector employ an ecosystem-level strategy and collaboration to drive sustainable decent work and employment. Companies are hungry for scarce digital and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) talent, but it is difficult to engage existing employees in learning programmes.
Participants advocated for approaches that assess and leverage existing skills availability. And, while it is vital to encourage entrepreneurship, the urgency of the challenge warrants large-scale, highly collaborative initiatives and partnerships.
Another strong theme that emerged is a call for localisation to assist with job creation and the economic empowerment needed to alleviate poverty. Local enterprise development is seen as a critical opportunity, with many companies indicating that they struggle to source material and commodities they require locally. Many are keen to move away from a reliance on imported materials and commodities that have become expensive or inconsistently available.