The Telkom Board approved the 2030 Sustainability Strategy in November 2025. The new strategy aligns more closely with our long-term business strategy, stakeholder expectations and evolving global reporting standards.
Our inaugural sustainability report provides full details of the new strategy, objectives, KPIs and targets for 2030. It also provides a closing view on our achievements against previous ESG goals and targets.
The Board, supported by the Social and Ethics Committee, oversees the implementation of both the PIVOT Strategy and the Sustainability Strategy. The aim is to ensure impactful progress and continued availability of the resources and relationships the Group depends on to be sustainable and operate as a going concern.
Harness digital transformation to accelerate sustainable growth
and create a positive impact on society and the environment.
Telkom’s Sustainability Strategy is structured around four interconnected pillars that collectively support long-term value creation:
Creating economic value for our stakeholders through expanded and new forms of connectivity.
Prosperity
Connecting and empowering our stakeholders to thrive in a digital world.
People
Planet
Committing to environmentally conscious practices and adopting principles of circularity.
Practice
Embracing stewardship to embed sustainable and innovative ways of working that foster customer trust.
"To seamlessly connect our customers to a better life"
| Sustainability pillars | Focus areas | Goal statements and targets | FY2022 performance |
FY2025 performance |
FY2026 performance |
% change from FY2025 |
% change from FY2022 base year |
Status | |
Planet |
Operational efficiencies |
Carbon neutral by 2035 Scopes 1 and 2 emissions (tCO2e) | 852 782 | 576 395 | 419 875 | (27.2%) | (50.8%) | ||
| 50% | Reduce fossil fuel consumption by 2030 (tCO2e) | 55 466 | 35 127 | 27 626 | (21.4%) | (50.2%) | |||
| 100% | Renewable energy sources by 2035 | <1% | 1.4% (9.25 GWh) |
2% (9.9 GWh) |
0.6 ppts | 2 ppts | |||
| Net zero by 2040 | |||||||||
| Determine Scope 3 emissions and set a target (tCO2e) | 1 041 730 | 947 260 | 812 850 | (14.2%) | (22.0%) | ||||
| 50% | Reduction in waste to landfill by 2030 (tonnes) | 743 | 622 | 543 | (12.7%) | (26.9%) | |||
| 25% | Reduction in potable water consumption by 2030 (kL) | 997 617 | 775 103 | 742 453 | (4.2%) | (25.6%) | |||
| 25% | Migration from R22 refrigerant gases in 2025 and 100% by 2035 (tonnes) from a 2016 baseline | 38 | 31 | 27 | (12.9%) | (28.9%) | |||
| Digital planet | 70 000 | IoT devices deployed by 2025 | 15 220 | 95 170 | 141 761 | 49.0% | 831.4% | ||
| Investing with purpose |
250 000 | Lives positively impacted through SMME spend by 2025* | 91 357 | 251 203 | 260 337 | 3.6% | 185.0% | ||
| Prosperity and People  |
70 000 | Lives impacted through digital literacy by 2025** | 14 420 | 72 278 | 122 521 | 69.5% | 749.7% | ||
| 2023 | Become an employer of choice | Achieved | Achieved | Achieved | |||||
| 35% | Women in middle management positions (M5 and above) by 2025 | 32% | 35% | 37% | 2 ppts | 5 ppts | |||
| Digital services |
4.3 million | Customers with access to Telkom’s diversified digital platforms by 2025 | 2 039 684 | 11 277 361 | 11 974 160 | 6.2% | 487.1% | ||
| 500 000 | Businesses with access to digital platform solutions by 2025 | 443 467 | 451 346 | 651 000 | 44.2% | 46.8% | |||
| Empowered communities |
15 million | Customers connected to broadband and fixed wireless broadband connectivity by 2025 | 11 700 000 | 19 590 697 | 20 202 000 | 3.1% | 72.7% | ||
| 1.5 million | SA homes and businesses connected through our FTTx*** footprint by 2025 (homes passed) | 839 691 | 1 378 930 | 1 539 209 | 11.6% | 83.3% | |||
| Underserved areas | Fibre rollout in townships (homes passed) | 119 579 | 231 330 | 302 523 | 30.8% | 153.0% | |||
| Fibre rollout in townships (homes connected) | 47 619 | 120 852 | 161 058 | 33.3% | 238.2% | ||||
Practice
 |
Business stewardship |
Culture of responsible technology and information use: | |||||||
| % | Reduction in number of data breaches | – | – | – | – % | – % | |||
| Fair and ethical practices towards our customers and within the organisation: | |||||||||
| % | Reduction in escalated customer complaints**** | 7 416 | 4 953 | 3 977 | (19.7%) | (46.4%) | |||
| Number of whistle-blowing incidents reported | 2 089 | 1 069 | 1 494 | 39.8% | (28.5%) | ||||
| * | Lives impacted by job creation = the number of people employed at an SMME, which can either be actual or x4.1 average if the number of employed is unknown (Small Business Institute SA). To calculate lives impacted, apply an economic multiplier of x3.3, representing the average number of people per household (Statistics South Africa). |
| ** | Digital literacy is the ability to use technology to connect with the world around us, to access opportunities and to use digital content to learn new skills/knowledge to contribute in a digitally connected society (UNESCO, UNICEF, EU). |
| *** | FTTx: fibre to the x (x being a placeholder for where fibre will be connected to). |
| **** | Excludes complaints managed at the call centre, as these are too complex for reporting purposes. |
The inaugural sustainability report provides detailed disclosures, including full KPI definitions, targets and performance, and deeper insights into each strategic pillar.
Telkom will continue to embed sustainability across its operations, decision-making and capital allocation processes.
Key priorities include strengthening execution, enhancing data and measurement capabilities, and aligning disclosures with global best practice.
This approach positions Telkom to deliver sustainable value while responding to evolving stakeholder expectations and regulatory developments.