"To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed."

American President Theodore Roosevelt
1933 – 1945 (Elected four times)

Terms like 'echo and carbon footprint' and 'sustainable values' have become buzzwords of our time. But how many people actually know what they mean?

Let's take the word 'sustainability'

The most widely quoted definition of 'sustainability' and 'sustainable development' is that of the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations, March 20, 1987: 
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

How does Tsb Sugar subscribe to this premise?

Even though we are amongst the biggest private sector employers in the Lowveld region, and have over the last 30 years made a meaningful contribution to the economic growth of Mpumalanga Province, we still ensure that our end results are in line with our sustainability targets.

Even though each year, we spend over half a billion rand in:

• Company procurement 
• Support of  numerous social responsibility initiatives
• Running our own comprehensive skills development programme

As well as:

• Supporting a sugarcane farming business (worth R690-million per annum) directly linked to approximately 1 500 independent growers through our Komati, Malalane and Pongola sugar mills,

we still ensure that our end results are in line with our sustainability targets.

Aware of our responsibility, we contribute to:

• Empowerment 
• Economic growth 
• The development of the communities that support our business,

but once again we ensure that our end results are in line with our sustainability targets.

Even though we have launched various initiatives to address these and many other issues such as:

• Ownership 
• Employment equity 
• Preferential procurement
• Land restitution

our sustainability targets remain constantly in our sights.

"When we build, let us build as if it would last forever," so said John Ruskin,19th century English author, poet and artist.

We could not agree more and currently we are consulting with government and communities on various aspects of land reform and have adopted a plan to develop medium-scale growers. (The plan will serve as a conduit for the small-scale growers to make their way up to the commercial level).

"We at Tsb Sugar believe that by addressing these issues we are not only demonstrating our commitment to transformation, but also, and perhaps most importantly, we are creating for ourselves a stable environment in which to do business - today, tomorrow and for generations to come. We are not just spouting a buzzword, but embracing and delivering sustainability with passion."

John du Plessis – CEO