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Beverages South Africa
INVESTING IN
THE YOUTH Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa
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EDUCATING AND EMPOWERING THE YOUTH Transforming the lives of young people by giving them the opportunities and platforms to upskill and become employable or start businesses. By Nozicelo Ngcobo – Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability director, CCBSA
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outh Day on June 16 and Youth Month will be celebrated this year under the theme: “The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Growing youth employment for an inclusive and transformed society.” Maxeke was a woman of many firsts: • first black African woman to graduate and obtain a BSc Degree in Southern Africa • first black African woman to graduate from an American university when she did so from Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1903 • only woman to attend the first African National Congress (ANC) conference in 1912 • first president (in 1918) of the Bantu Women’s League, which later became the ANC Women’s League. She was a pioneer, and now, more than 150 years after her birth in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape, there is a new generation of young people looking to make their mark and positively impact South Africa and the world. Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) believes in using our industry leadership to be part of the solution to achieve positive change in the world and build a sustainable future. One way to achieve positive change includes ensuring greater economic inclusion, particularly for women and youth. We are committed to making a sustainable difference and impacting the lives of the young people in our host communities and broader society. We recognise the many challenges facing
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our country, but believe that by working together and building and enabling supporting networks, we can overcome these. Crafting a future in which our young people have a seat at the table and a voice is key to finding sustainable solutions that will address the issues of unemployment and related poverty. CCBSA seeks to maximise the impact of our entire value chain to create opportunities for individuals and small businesses to grow and prosper. We have adopted the three pillars of education, employability and entrepreneurship as a framework for our economic inclusion strategy. CCBSA runs a number of initiatives in line with these three pillars as we seek to create opportunities and support young students to further their studies through our Study Buddy Bursary Fund and assist small agri businesses to expand their operations through support from our Mintirho Foundation, while our Bizniz-in-a-Box programme is specially designed to assist township and rural entrepreneurs to grow their small business enterprises. Here are some of their success stories:
EDUCATION
Terrence Hlanganani, Cape Town I am studying toward a law degree and aspire to become a corporate lawyer. The Study Buddy Bursary from CCBSA helped me a lot as my parents were not in a position to pay for my studies while also supporting my two younger siblings still at school. Tuition is extremely expensive and without the financial assistance from CCBSA, I would not be able to attend university and pursue my dreams. As the older child, my younger siblings look up to me to be an example and show them how important studying is. I hope that by studying hard and obtaining my degree, my siblings will be inspired to also work hard and make a success of their lives. I am determined to not only grow in my studies and career, but to also assume responsibilities, as I am someone who never shies away from new challenges.
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Mijuan Lennox, Bloemfontein The CCBSA Study Buddy Bursary Fund has helped Mijuan me study for my dream Lennox career. I want to start my own medical practice, and I also want to continue studying in the medical field when I have completed this degree. My mother is a single mother trying her utmost to provide me with the best future and I appreciate her so much for this. This bursary has helped alleviate her stress. Without this assistance I would not have been able to attend university. I would still be at home in Bloemfontein, not studying anything because we simply would not have been able to afford it. I love learning new things, and I believe we should always want to know more. Alexander Oliphant, Midrand The CCBSA Study Buddy Bursary has allowed me to study the degree of my choice at the institution of my choosing. It is an academic dream come true. Without the funding, Alexander I would not have been Oliphant able to pursue a tertiary education. I would have been forced to find a job to sustain myself and my family and would have lost out on the opportunity of a lifetime. I am studying law, and upon completion, I would like to obtain an LLM and either become an advocate or a corporate executive or an entrepreneur. I attended high school in Potchefstroom, but due to the pandemic was forced to drop out of my matric year in 2020. In 2021, a relative in Johannesburg took me in to complete my matric year, and I received an award for the highest achiever in maths literacy and obtained a bachelor’s pass. My advice to young people is to work hard and research funding opportunities so that you can achieve your dreams and improve your life and that of your family.
Reeshaylin Naidoo, Durban CCBSA has equipped me with the necessary funding to fulfil my lifelong dream of studying at tertiary level and attaining the highest possible qualification that I can. By studying for a Bachelor of Commerce and majoring in supply chain and finance, I aim to either become a finance specialist or work as a manager in a fast-paced supply chain environment. Either way, it’s a win-win situation for me as both these fields of expertise are things I enjoy doing. I also have dreams of broadening my career as much as I possibly can. I have always had a high level of dedication and commitment, as well as the belief that hard work definitely pays off. No matter how difficult it may seem, there is always hope, so don’t ever give up. Where there’s a will, Reeshaylin there’s a way. Naidoo
EMPLOYABILITY
Tumi Lethetsa, quality assurance manager, Inland Region (Bloemfontein) Following the completion of my BSC Biochemistry degree in 2012, I had one aim in mind – to work as a laboratory manager. During the 10 years I have been employed by CCBSA, I have found it quite exciting to see how our organisation is committed to development and how this is aligned with my personal goals. Every young professional dreams about making it into senior management. It took me five years to reach this level, largely due to my hard work and CCBSA’s willingess to help me realise my full potential in each of the areas where I worked. CCBSA also invests in retaining talent and financially supporting its employees’ studies through the CCBSA Employee Bursary scheme. In South Africa, among our leading concerns are the absence of universal access to high-quality education, acute poverty and unemployment, particularly among the youth, and the widening inequality gap among our citizens. Tumi Lethetsa www.ccbsaco.com
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COC A-COLA beverages south africa PROFILE CCBSA works hard to address some of these pressing issues through apprenticeship programmes in the communities where we operate, and the organisation has also introduced the Study Buddy Fund Bursary, dedicated to giving academically deserving students access to further education and training. I am a firm believer in ambition. Life without any ambition is meaningless. Ambition provides us with the motivation to achieve our objectives. My main goal in life is to pass on the knowledge I’ve acquired to others as I believe that knowledge grows in proportion to its distribution. Mxolisi Hugo, production team leader I feel very strongly about saving our planet and doing as much as one can to slow down the rate of pollution. Working for CCBSA, I get to see the company’s multiple Mxolisi Hugo initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint. CCBSA kick-started my career and continues to empower me. There is no limit to growth. My aspiration as a young person within CCBSA is to maintain or improve the quality of my work and CCBSA enables me to do that by providing all the necessary tools for me to improve. We all have a responsibility to help reduce the high youth unemployment rate in South Africa. At CCBSA, there are a number initiatives such as the Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP), and our Bizniz-in-aBox programme, which is visible around Bloemfontein where I am based. Jana de Jager, account manager, Mossel Bay As a dynamic woman in this ever-changing world, I have been challenged in every aspect of life. The word woman, according to the dictionary, Jana is just a gender, but I see it de Jager as so much more. It is the sense that we are pillars, we stand for much more. Woman used to be seen as just a person who cares for the kids or a housewife, but today we are leaders, breadwinners and so much more. We are providers, mums and leaders. I am blessed to work for an incredible company that steps up
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and recognises who we are and encourages woman leadership across the organisation. I believe that education for the young people in our communities is of great importance, enabling us to invest in and create our own great future. I do, however, believe there is an opportunity to increase access to education. I’m talking about investing in our communities to give young people exposure and the opportunity to learn. I believe such workshops will be greatly beneficial to young people. This might be in the form of further education through financial support, healthcare, lifestyle, or investment advice.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Avir M Bisunder Before Mintirho came on board, our operation was small, handling just 9 000 tonnes of cane. Now we handle 85 000 tonnes. Our turnover has gone up from R3-million to more than R13-million, and we employ over 100 people. We plan to diversify our operations from solely sugar cane farming and transport to include macadamia nuts. The recent floods were very damaging, destroying crops and infrastructure, and we are hoping for government assistance to help the recovery. We remain hopeful that we will get back on track and continue with our plans. It is going to take a lot of work, but we are ready to tackle the challenge. Siyamthanda Soxuza, East London I sell fast food and takeaways from a container business in Mdantsane near East London. The Bizniz-in-a-Box (BiB) initiative means so much because before BiB got involved, I was working from a small container and had to buy stock every day, and made a minimal profit. With this initiative, everything is more convenient, and I can see my business growing. I hope to one day progress to owning a much bigger business – an established restaurant in a hotel or shopping centre – and hire young people and create jobs. I look forward to receiving the skills development and business support offered as part of the BiB initiative, as it will benefit me by giving me the skills to run my business. There will be a focus on customer service and finance and administration skills, which will help me manage my business better. Initiatives such as BiB are crucial to assisting the young people and discouraging them from entering a life of crime as a way to make a living.
WYOUTH MEN @ CCBSA 011 848 2600 media@CCBSAgroup.com www.ccbsaco.com
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