Opinion

Charity shmarity

Branding squeezes what it can from good deeds. But what happens when it loses interest and moves on?

11 December 2002

Sometimes, life just points you in certain directions. A series of unrelated events seem to correlate, saying: “Look! See!” For me, it`s been about charity, and in particular corporate charities, for the last few months.

As a journalist, I get exposed to a lot of corporate charity work and the resultant push for marketing value; particularly now, with the IT slump in the private sector seeing a lot of companies trying to get into government`s good books. I never really thought about it much, until a recent interview with the CEO of a black economic empowerment company. According to this CEO, he accepts he must partner with white companies that don`t believe in black economic empowerment – some don`t even understand the thinking behind BEE – because he needs them to augment his skills base. They need him if they want to gain access to government business. The reason behind BEE doesn`t matter, as long as it happens, he argued.

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