ABSTRACT
The author moved with his family from Bulawayo to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1978, to escape the escalating Rhodesian bush war. His naivety was brought into sharp relief when, in his final year of school in 1987, he went on a Christian work camp to Namaqualand. Its population is mostly rural and poor, of mixed race, with strong ancestral links to the San Bushmen of the nearby Kalahari desert. Most significant for the emerging corporate responsibility movement was a campaign by African–American minister, Reverend Leon Sullivan, to hold US companies operating in South Africa accountable for their ethical practices. Beyond contributing to the eventual dismantling of apartheid, the Sullivan Principles were significant for another reason. They added tremendous momentum to a movement that had barely just begun – the ethical investment or socially responsible investment (SRI) movement. The author's growing interest in sustainable development led him to focus his final year dissertation on the subject.
