Accounting for Inclusiveness: The Corporate Response to the Challenge of HIV/AIDS in South Africa

This paper examines the corporate and institutional responses to the challenge of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The circumstances of South Africa have demonstrated the need for new ways of governance if businesses and society are to be sustainable. A confluence of historical, political and social factors in the 21st century, has produced the circumstances for new corporate principles, practices and reporting. The paper investigates the impact of institutional initiatives on corporate practices. Based on semi-structured interviews, the influences of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the King Report, the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), and trade unions on corporate practices are explicated. There is no single path to a solution. What is clear is that firms cannot be uni-dimensional in the pursuit of profits, but have to be more ‘inclusive’, and not only in South Africa, but everywhere.