Trialogue’s assessment of how well sustainability is embedded in South African companies has found that local businesses display only a moderate level of maturity when it comes to sustainability, and that it is more strongly adopted in concept than in practice.
Trialogue’s latest research, published in the inaugural Trialogue Sustainable Business Tracker, assesses 52 South African companies against five pillars that reveal the extent of sustainability embedment in strategy, governance, systems and processes, metrics and monitoring and communication.
Participating companies used Trialogue’s Sustainable Business Self-Assessment Tool to score themselves on 44 indicators between January and July 2026. The findings were presented at the Trialogue Sustainability Symposium on 28 August 2026, in partnership with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) and the National Business Initiative (NBI).
In her address, Trialogue sustainability advisory head Tina Playne said the research showed a high response variability, highlighting substantial differences in how companies interpret and embed sustainable practices.
Companies were strongest at the point of conviction, scoring well in sustainability ambition (6.9 out of 10) and leadership and governance (6.8), suggesting that sustainability values and oversight structures are in place. The assessment uncovered room for improvement in systems and processes (6.4), performance metrics and communication, and messaging, both of which were self-reported at 5.8 out of 10 on average.
“We found that the greatest area for improvement was the link between sustainability performance and executive remuneration. This is proof of how seriously a company values their sustainability aspiration and our findings suggest that boards are still in the early stages of linking sustainability to incentives,” explained Playne.
During the symposium’s panel discussion Embedding sustainability: Lessons from the frontline, executives from Dis-Chem, Exxaro, Growthpoint, MTN and Woolworths argued that there is a clear shift from managing ESG impacts to consciously creating long-term value.
Sustainability may be driven by senior management but “delivery sits with the people who do the business of the business,” noted Feroz Koor, group sustainability officer at Woolworths. In addition, sustainability is evolving with technology and materiality is becoming more nuanced. This means thinking differently about outcomes.
“Our approach isn’t about avoiding disclosure, but transparency should not be driven solely by a framework,” said Koor. “Companies need principled positions that can withstand scrutiny.”
While the ESG backlash has softened some investor appetite, Marina Madale, executive: sustainability and shared value at MTN, said sustainability remains firmly on the agenda.
“Investors continue to deploy climate, human rights and sustainability specialists to scrutinise company performance,” she noted. “What has changed is that investors are less willing to rely blindly on ESG raters and rankings. More human judgement is being applied,” she said.
Trade-offs are inevitable, but returns should not all be viewed in a purely financial light, said Marius Meyer, head of energy at Growthpoint Property. “Some returns are related to risk reduction, resilience or reputation.”
For each company, building an ESG foundation is just the start. The real opportunity lies in moving beyond managing impacts towards shaping more resilient systems, whether in healthcare, energy, technology, retail or mining, and demonstrating that long-term business success and societal progress can reinforce one another.
Tina Playne
Playne noted in closing; “These findings show that the sustainability journey is still being navigated. While strategies and structures are in place, board capability, supporting systems, data and incentives to deliver still need work. Boards that take the time to reflect honestly on their social and environmental trade-offs, invest in setting real, time-bound targets for material issues and request data that is reliable and decision-useful will be setting themselves up to better embed sustainability.”
The Trialogue Sustainable Business Tracker 2026, together with write-ups of the keynote addresses and panel discussion from the Trialogue Sustainability Symposium, is available at https://trialogue.co.za/trialogue-sustainable-business-tracker/
CEOs from several large companies will continue the conversation on sustainability in the weeks ahead through Trialogue’s partnership with Primedia. Appearing as guests on 702’s new weekly segment Business as a force for good, hosted by Stephen Grootes on The Money Show every Tuesday at 7.10pm from 1 September, they will share how they are making sustainability business as usual.
