SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY WORKING GROUP ON THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

This report, produced by the South African Civil Society Working Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, provides a 'Citizens’ Report' to offer an alternative perspective to the government's Voluntary National Review (VNR). It evaluates South Africa's progress on six specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Quality Education (Goal 4), Decent Work and Economic Growth (Goal 8), Reduced Inequalities (Goal 10), Climate Action (Goal 13), Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (Goal 16), and Partnerships for the Goals (Goal 17). The report generally finds that while South Africa possesses strong policy and legal frameworks aligned with the 2030 Agenda, there is a significant gap in implementation, public awareness, and the inclusion of civil society in the monitoring and review processes.

• South Africa's performance on Goal 4 (Quality Education) is rated as level 3 ('action has started'), with high enrolment rates but significant failures in quality and infrastructure. Only 59 percent of schools meet minimum physical infrastructure standards, and teacher absenteeism is as high as ten percent.
• Regarding Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), the report notes a contradiction between high-rated policy frameworks and poor implementation. The country faces 'jobless growth' and persistent job shedding, with the unemployment rate reaching 27.6 percent in the first half of 2019.
• South Africa is rated at Level 2 ('initial phase of planning') for Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities). The report identifies South Africa as one of the world's most unequal societies, with a Gini coefficient of 0.63 as of 2015, and notes that the top percentile of households held 70.9 percent of the wealth between 2008 and 2015.
• For Goal 13 (Climate Action), the report assigns an average score of 2, citing a lack of political will to move away from coal-fired power. South Africa is the fourteenth highest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions globally, and the report warns the country will warm twice as fast as the global average.
• Evaluation of Goal 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions) results in an overall rating of 2.4. The report highlights a national crisis of gender-based violence and femicide, noting that three women die at the hands of their intimate partner every day, a rate five times the global average.
• Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) is rated as Level 3 ('action has started'). While the policy framework is solid, implementation is hampered by limited institutional capacity and significant revenue losses; for the 2010–2014 period, South Africa lost R510 billion in tax revenue due to illicit financial flows.
• The report criticizes the government's Voluntary National Review (VNR) process for lacking meaningful civil society participation, stating that while CSOs were invited to provide written input, the government did not provide the resources to enable such participation.

APA

Natural Justice (2019). SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY WORKING GROUP ON THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CR_VNR_SA-Publication-A4-final_FA-NEWYORK_MAIL.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY WORKING GROUP ON THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. 2019. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CR_VNR_SA-Publication-A4-final_FA-NEWYORK_MAIL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY WORKING GROUP ON THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT |date=July 2019 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CR_VNR_SA-Publication-A4-final_FA-NEWYORK_MAIL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2019south, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY WORKING GROUP ON THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CR_VNR_SA-Publication-A4-final_FA-NEWYORK_MAIL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }