MPs reject motion on new mandatory CSR
Spira Tlhankane | Monday February 23, 2026 06:00
The motion was put before the house by Tswapong South legislator, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang, but only 15 MPs voted ‘Yes’ as the Motion was negated.
Opposing the motion, the Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Tiroeyaone Ntsima, said once they legislate a mandatory percentage on profit, CSR ceases to be a voluntary responsibility and becomes a compulsory levy. He also said it would become compliance-driven, instead of impact-driven; therefore, they must be careful not to create a backdoor tax.
“We are not opposed to CSR, we are not opposed to companies contributing to social development, and we are not opposed to strengthening partnerships between businesses and communities. What we oppose is the convention of CSR as a statutory obligation tied to profit before tax, which in effect creates a quasi tax under a different name. CSR, by its nature it is voluntary, strategic, integrated into business models, and responsive to community needs. True CSR reflects corporate citizenship; it is about value and alignment with long-term sustainability,” he told the House.
Ntsima pointed out that if they now legislate that companies must allocate, for example, 2 or 3 per cent of pre-tax profit to CSR, they will be imposing an additional fiscal burden, which they call CSR or social contribution.
“At a time when we are promoting local manufacturing, encouraging citizen entrepreneurship, supporting Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs), positioning Botswana under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), we must be extremely cautious about introducing measures that may reduce competitiveness,” he emphasised. Ntsima also indicated that profit before tax is not uniform across industries and that the Motion proposes tying CSR to profit before tax when profits are not equal across sectors.
“Consider a mining company with high capital intensity, a manufacturing startup still breaking even, a retail chain operating on thin margins, a tax start-up, and reinvesting earnings into innovation. A blanket percentage rule ignores sectoral realities. It may disproportionately hurt small and medium enterprises, discourage investments, slow expansion and job creation, and penalize companies during economic downturns. We must remember profits are not guaranteed. Some years are good, and some are difficult. Should we impose a mandatory CSR contribution even in years when companies are barely surviving? If we impose a mandatory CSR levy tied to profit before tax, we may disadvantage or slow down enterprise growth, we may reduce business sustainability, and we may also undermine capital accumulation. For large multinational corporations, the impact may be manageable. For citizen SMMES, it may be burdensome,” he highlighted.
He said they should not craft a policy that unintentionally disadvantages the very Motswana that they are trying to empower. For his part, Maun East MP Goretetse Kekgonegile indicated that CSR is done by some companies while others do not do it. “Companies that do so much CSR are Debswana and Lucara, and we see them. Some companies have that CSR culture and see its importance. Some big companies make huge profits, but you can never hear them doing CSR. Therefore, this motion will compel companies that fail to do CSR to do so. Those who are already doing CSR will continue doing so, aligned with the law, they will continue with their business as usual, nothing changes.
Kekgonegile said some big companies do a lot of CSR in other countries but have nothing to show in Botswana.