Port Elizabeth, 07 August 2019 – Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) celebrated the expansion of its PH Gutsche Scholarship Fund by hosting its growing network of beneficiaries, marking the initiative’s seventh anniversary of year on year growth.
The Bursary Scheme, started in 2013 to assist children from previously disadvantaged areas, has been expanded to include CCBSA employees and their children as a key part of economic sustainability and brand development.
“To date, we have provided bursaries for over 70 beneficiaries and invested over R2.5 million,” says Michael Tsholo, general manager for Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa’s Coastal Region. “We noted very early on that this programme had to become more than just a corporate social responsibility programme, but a key talent development and economic sustainability initiative.
The Fund is one of the four pillars that form CCBSA’s Youth Education Support (YES) Programme designed to support the company’s priority pipeline for meeting transformation objectives through education. The three others are the Ikamva Youth, Ligbron E-learning and Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development (YLED).
The event was attended by a number of PH Gutsche Scholarship Fund beneficiaries based in Port Elizabeth and the MEC of the Department of Education Eastern Cape, Mr. Fundile Gade.
Beneficiaries were later accompanied on an extensive tour of CCBSA’s Port Elizabeth bottling plant, where they were encouraged to identify areas they could see themselves pursuing in their careers, meeting key team members in the operation process
We are looking forward to the next phase of the Fund’s evolution, which will include strategic internships to provide a reliable and long-term talent pool as we expand our product range and footprint,” Tsholo says.
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About CCBSA
Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) is a proudly South African company which began operating as a legal entity in July 2016, after the merger of six non-alcoholic ready to drink bottling operations. We employ over 7000 people at 13 manufacturing facilities across the country.
As a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) and a bottler for The Coca-Cola Company, our vision is to refresh Africa every day and make our continent a better place for all. We manufacture and distribute Coca-Cola beverages that make life’s everyday moments
more enjoyable, while doing business the right way. The result is shared opportunity for our customers, our employees, our communities, and our shareholders.
We conduct our business ethically, transparently and conscientiously. We espouse an inclusive business culture to reflect our African identity. We accelerate sustainable, profitable revenue growth across all categories and offer an innovative portfolio of products that respond to customer needs and consumer preferences. Profitability is important, but not at any cost. People matter. Our planet matters. We do business the right way by following our values and partnering for solutions that benefit us all.
