MOTIVATING LEARNERS FOR A BRIGHTER 2023 – BACK TO SCHOOL CAMPAIGN

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Bloemfontein, 31 January 2023 – Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA), Lesedi FM, Bathu footwear and BIC stationery have partnered for a Back-to-School campaign to get learners in the Free State motivated and equipped for the 2023 school year.

The campaign comprises of two initiatives, Motivation Monday and a Mystery Box challenge. The Motivational Monday kicked off on the ground, on Monday, January 30, 2023, while the mystery box is a three-week campaign, which kicks off on, Wednesday, 1 February 2023.The campaigns aim to motivate learners to study smarter, harder and to reach for their dreams, while also giving them the chance to win stationery packs that will equip them in their studies.

Learners who guess what is in the mystery box correctly on-air will win amazing stationery packs. A total of 50 stationery packs can be won during the three-week campaign. In addition, on Monday 30 January 2023, learners at St. Bernard Secondary School, also got a chance to interact with Lesedi FM presenters during the popular breakfast show, Thakgoha.

Lesedi FM DJs Seipati, Ba2Cada and DJ Lerato Lovers broadcasted their popular Thakgoha breakfast show at the school and learners had an opportunity to engage with the presenters and be motivated by their own personal experiences in striving to reach for their dreams and underlining the importance of working hard at school.

Speaking on behalf of the station, Lesedi FM Business Manager Mamontha Motaung, said: “Our responsibility is to continue to activate our communities to live out our ‘Botho’ values that emphasise that the whole village is responsible for the upbringing of our children.

“As a result, we the public broadcaster, pride ourselves and embrace our role in communities to enlighten, empower and unite people in a cause such as this, that will uplift our children and help them create a vision for themselves of a bright future.

“We are therefore delighted to partner with like-minded brands like CCBSA, to encourage, not just the learners and teachers, but broader communities nationwide who listen to and support the station, to be inspired to come together and reach out to the schools in their own communities to make a difference.”

CCBSA is passionate about creating shared value and supporting education initiatives, particularly in the communities in which it operates.

Pinky Lebitso, Public Affairs and Communications Manager: Inland at CCBSA, said: “We fully support the Back-to-School initiative by Lesedi FM and acknowledge our partners Bathu and BIC to provide opportunities to young people as they set about building futures for themselves”

Bathu Projects and Portfolio Manager, Lulu Mandlazi added: “The Bathu Care Project leads with a clear mandate that focuses on empowering and positively impacting our future leaders. We believe that no child should go to school with bare feet.

“We have chosen to come shed a light on the beautiful students of St Bernard Secondary school in Bochabelo township in collaboration with Lesedi FM, CCBSA, and BIC. We’re not just here to show up for the day; rather, we’re on a mission to help kids all over the country. The goal of this initiative is to restore hope and help less fortunate kids walk their way through education in comfort while wearing a brand-new pair of Bathu school shoes, with a goal of donating one million pairs of school shoes in 10 years.”

BIC marketing manager, Amy Whittam said of the partnership: “This collaboration is such a natural fit for us. We love working with ambitiously aligned brands that want to help empower young minds in South Africa. At BIC, we value the importance of education for a brighter future for our country’s learners, especially those from disadvantaged communities. Initiatives like this help build excitement and make resources and education much more accessible.”

Lebitso added: “These initiatives all form part of our efforts to help build greater economic inclusion and a better future for all.”

She added that CCBSA was actively involved in a number of initiatives that seek to elevate and equip matriculants, high school learners and university students for success as future leaders.

CCBSA creates a social impact for the youth in South Africa through sustainable programmes such as the Study Buddy Fund, launched in 2021 and which assisted 55 deserving young people across communities in which CCBSA has operations, to access tertiary education. The Fund pays for full tuition, accommodation fees, as well as textbooks. To date, CCBSA has invested over R8 million to support students and has called for applications for the 2023 academic year.

The Study Buddy Fund comprises four programme pillars:

Study Buddy Fund

Nozicelo Ngcobo, CCBSA Public Affairs, Communication and Sustainability Director, said: “Education is important in eradicating poverty and promoting sustained, inclusive, and equitable economic growth for sustainable development. At CCBSA, we recognise that education is central to the development and improvement of the lives of young people in South Africa, the work of dealing with challenges in our education system cannot rest on government alone.

“We recognise the deep socio-economic issues at play in our country where poverty, unemployment and inequality cause such despair and division in our communities,” she said. “Supporting the educational aspirations of our young people is one way in which we believe we can help turn the tide and create a better future for all in South Africa.” 

For the 2023 academic year, the Fund will pay for the tuition and accommodation fees of deserving students in communities which CCBSA has operations with a particular focus on the following areas however, not limited to: Mdantsane/Motherwell/Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu / Greater Eldorado Park Community Forum (including Freedom Park and Motsoaledi) / Tembisa/ Greater Nigel/PTA West Ward 55/Westenburg- Seshego/ Alabama/ Mangaung.

Host Community Bursary Programme

The Bursary Program provides scholarship support to indigent academically strong students who meet entry requirements for access to universities. This financial support covers registration,

tuition, accommodation, meal allowances and textbooks.

To date, CCBSA has spent over R5 million and supported 42 students.

University Partnership

This provides funding to students already at university but who do not have bursaries and/or NFSAS funding and are often regarded as the “missing middle”.

CCBSA has invested R3,9 million to support 80 students, of whom half were young women.

TVET College Support

This targets young people in CCBSA host communities who did not meet university entrance requirements. Instead, the scholarship support focuses on technical skills development, specifically geared towards the CCBSA value chain i.e., electrical, or mechanical engineering.

The company has spent over R150,000 and empowered 20 students, of whom half were women.

Ligbron

This is E-Learning Using Technology to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science and CCBSA has invested over R1 million in supporting over 6,000 students to date.

ENDS

Contact information:

Pinky Lebitso (PACS Manager)

Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa

+27 82 385 8324

plebitso@ccbagroup.com

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 are a level 1 B-BBEE empowered company. 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.

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Rakesh Rajbally

Managing Director: South Africa

Rakesh is C-Suite leader with 26 years of experience in General Management, Sales, Marketing, Logistics and Finance within the FMCG space. He currently leads the South African business for Coca-Cola Beverages Africa. He has a strong growth mindset and has successfully led CCBSA’s Commercial business unit. He is a sought after thought leader in developing & implementing revenue growth and route to market strategies in both modern and emerging markets. Under his leadership CCBSA recently completed a R6bn/ $400m investment in an Affordability growth strategy. He has also led CCBSA’s strategic and operational Customer management and recently achieved the #1 ranking across FMCG in the Advantage survey for 2 consecutive years.

Rakesh leads the CCBSA executive team that has been instrumental in successfully leading a large organization across major transformation changes including the merger of six entities to form CCBSA, the Sugar Tax introduction, Talent diversity strategy and other major productivity initiatives. He is a trusted partner and builds trust-based relations with business partners, stakeholders, and authorities.

His purpose statement “We have 2 hands, one to help yourself, one to help others” reflects in the many young leaders he has successfully coached and mentored.

Janett Forbes

Commercial Excellence Director

Janett is a seasoned financial, logistics, and commercial executive who joins us from Vector Logistics previously a division of RCL Foods where she held position of Finance Director.

Prior to this, Janett was part of the Coca-Cola family, having occupied various senior roles of Finance Manager, Category Manager, Revenue Growth Manager and Channel Development Manager within ABI in 2002 and 2016.

Janett is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA), has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Rhodes University in Grahamstown and a higher diploma in Accounting from University of Natal in Durban.

Desilan Pillay

Logistics Director

He joined the Coke system as a Unit Manager Designate at ABI Midrand in 2008. Desilan encompasses 20 years of management experience from companies including Afrox (Linde Group), the South African Breweries (ABI soft drinks and SABMiller – now ABInbev), and Unilever.  

He has a wealth of experience and a vast skillset within South Africa and across the African continent – all at executive levels. This includes, but is not limited to, project management, engineering, production (gases), packaging (FMCG), as well as operations management, financial management, sales and distribution, procurement, and planning (demand, supply, and production). Desilan has managed portfolios across end-to-end Supply Chain (Sourcing, Demand, and Supply Planning), Warehouse Management, Production, and Distribution, including Customer Care, After-sales and reverse logistics. He was also accountable for the delivery of service excellence in order fulfilment, cost of goods sold enhancement via strategic sourcing, and the overall cash optimisation (inventory) across the business. His most recent role before re-joining the CCBSA family is as the Chief Operations Officer at Anchor Holdings, one of the largest privately-owned warehousing companies in South Africa.

Desilan is a qualified Mechanical Engineer and has completed a Management Development Programme from UCT. His areas of expertise include building high performance teams and E2E supply chain and commercial acumen.

Desilan has been happily married for the past 16 years and has a 12-year-old daughter and 18-month-old twins – a boy and a girl. In his spare time, he enjoys seeing new sights locally and abroad. He is always planning his next trip to an exciting destination together with his family.

Nozicelo Ngcobo

Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Director

Nozicelo started her corporate career in 1994 when she was recruited by Sasol into their Management Trainee Programme of the top 16 academic graduates in South Africa – class of 1993. In addition to Sasol, Nozicelo has since worked for listed companies such as Telkom SA, South African Breweries (SAB) as well as multi-national organisations such as Philip Morris International (PMI). In 2020, Nozicelo joined Coca Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) as Director for PACS.

Nozicelo has a demonstrable track record in successfully developing and managing corporate affairs and regulatory strategies for complex industries such as alcohol, tobacco and recently the beverages industry. Nozicelo has strong professional networks spanning more than 25 years in both public and private sectors. Her strategic insights, value creation, solutions orientation, strong business/political acumen, solid networks and ability to mobilise teams to successfully execute towards a common vision are just some of the many attributes she brings into any organisation.

Nozicelo is an advocate of human rights, animal rights and has a passion for youth/women empowerment.

Michael John Wilson

Finance Director

Michael started his working career at KPMG as a Manager and Trainee Accountant from 2002 until 2006. After completing his articles, his highest position held at KPMG was Audit Manager and Office Administration Manager. In 2006 to 2009, he worked at BASF South Africa (previously known as Engelhard South Africa), where he was appointed as Site Controller – Mobile Emissions Catalysts Division. He also served as a Team Leader for Finance when the company changed its ERP from JD Edwards to SAP. In 2009, Michael joined Coca-Cola Fortune (CCF) as Finance Manager – Business Support.

In 2015, he was assigned to the CCBA integration team as a Finance work stream member and later that year, Michael was appointed Finance Manager for Marketing, Sales and Distribution. Michael relocated to Windhoek, Namibia in January 2016 as Financial Director for Coca-Cola Beverages Namibia. In October 2017, Michael returned to Port Elizabeth as Group Financial Controller for CCBA, a position he currently holds. He serves on a number of boards and audit committees within the CCBA Group.

In 2000, Michael graduated with a B.Com (Accountancy) Degree from the University of Port Elizabeth and a year later, he completed his B. Com Honours (Accountancy) at the same university. He was admitted as a Chartered Accountant (CA) in 2005. In 2010, he completed his Executive Development Programme at the University of Stellenbosch Business School.

Moses Lubisi

Manufacturing & Technical Director

Moses has over 20 years of extensive experience spanning various industries such as Sugar, Food and Beverages, and Mineral processing, including 15 years within the Coca-Cola system, Moses brings a wealth of knowledge to this role.

His journey within CCBSA has seen him excel in positions ranging from Plant Manager, Regional Manufacturing Manager (Coastal) in CCBSA to Executive Director for Appletiser (Pty) Ltd. Before returning to CCBA within Group Office, Moses served as an Operations Director at Illovo Sugar (Pty) Ltd. His expertise lies in strategy formulation, governance and execution, with a focus on end-to-end value chain orchestration across manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and supply chain management.

Moses has held senior and executive management roles for over six years, overseeing regional and enterprise-level strategies, assets and resource allocation.

Agatha Masemola

Strategy and Performance Director

Agatha joined CCBSA in April 2020 from Absa Corporate and Investment Bank Africa, where she held various roles in the past nine years, including as Managing Principal for Strategy & Business Transformation and Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive of Barclays Africa Corporate Bank. She was a key figure in the build-out and integration of the Corporate Bank across 13 African markets.

Prior to joining Absa, Agatha was a Senior Management Consultant in Strategy and Innovation at Deloitte Consulting, South Africa. At Deloitte, Agatha worked on several executive-sponsored strategy and innovation projects across various sectors, as well as driving new business development. Prior to Deloitte, she worked in Life Sciences R&D for over ten years, both as a full-time researcher with publications in peer reviewed journals, and as a Portfolio Manager & COO for a biotechnology fund management, focusing on investment in early-stage biotech ventures and commercialisation.

Agatha holds a PhD in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Cape Town and has completed post-Doctoral research in South Africa and the USA. She obtained her BSc (Biochemistry and Physiology) and MSc (Biochemistry) from the University of the North. She completed a Management Advancement Programme at Wits Business School to help her transition from laboratory to business.

Agatha loves to travel and enjoys experiencing different cultures and sampling local cuisine.

Hannes Prinsloo

Country Sales Director

Hannes comes with a wealth of experience and strong commercial operations expertise stretching over 30 years within the Bottling system; truly an example of “home grown timber”.

In his most recent role, of General Manager Commercial, he managed the Revenue Growth, Route to Market, Category management, Channel Development and Knowledge and Insights. His previous experiences include that of General Manager Operations, District Manager and National Account Manager.

Among his career achievements, he counts being inducted as a Grand Master in 2021, which is a true testament to his passion for people, strong work ethic, and unwavering commitment to performance. The Masters are seasoned professionals in our core functions (Commercial, Logistics & Manufacturing) who have consistently delivered exceptional results in their 20-plus years of service in the organisation. CCBSA bestows its highest honour these professionals who have shown exemplary commitment, fortitude, passion, loyalty and most importantly, value-adding leadership.

In May 2023, at the annual Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) General Management Meeting (GMM) Awards, he was honoured to receive the CEO Award, which honours exceptional leadership that sets a clear example of consistently living our values. In his leisure time, Hannes follows a wide variety of debate platforms and sports.

Mkuseli Dlikilili

Human Resources Director

Mkuseli is a seasoned HR executive with more than 25 years in the FMCG sector. He has also held HR management roles in the chemical industry and state-owned enterprises. Prior to his appointment at CCBSA, Mkuseli was Group Executive, Human Resources, at Pioneer Foods. He also worked for leading South African organisations including Eskom, SAB, Dulux and Portnet.

At Pioneer Foods, he gained extensive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) experience and his career highlights include integrating SA Dried Fruits (Pty) Ltd and Ceres Fruit Juices (Pty) Ltd into Pioneer Foods Group, unbundling Craft Box Corrugated for sale to New Era Packaging (Pty) Ltd, integrating Moirs, Bowmans Ingredients and Savoury Foods into Bokomo Foods, the acquisition of the Sanitarium Cereals and Belso Cereals Limited to form Bokomo Foods UK, unbundling Todays Frozen Foods to merge with Heinz Foods SA, integrating Retail Brands InterAfrica (Pty) Ltd into The Ceres Beverages Company, unbundling Quantum Foods, and listing Pioneer Foods on the JSE.

His previous board experience includes serving on the Advisory Board of the University of Stellenbosch Business School, SA Dried Fruit (Pty) Ltd Board of Directors, and Ceres Fruit Juices (Pty) Ltd and its successor, The Ceres Beverages Company (Pty) Ltd, Board of Directors. Mkuseli has mentored many managers who have risen to be leaders in their respective fields and industries.

At CCBSA his accomplishments include merging and integrating six legacy entities to form CCBSA, achieving 50%+ Women in Leadership and maintaining it for four successive years, from 31% at CCBSA inception in July 2016; and crafting the CCBSA Diversity & Inclusion strategy and successfully delivering on its objectives. He was also instrumental in CCBSA achieving Level 1 B-BBEE recognition status and has received numerous Skills Development Awards from the FoodBev SETA.

Mkuseli is passionate about nurturing, developing and empowering people to realise their full potential. He is steadfast in his belief in human rights, accentuating human dignity, and socio- economic transformation. He describes himself as an authentic, courageous, resilient, humble, principled and values-based person, and a committed HR professional who believes in positive psychology.

He holds the following qualifications: MA Industrial and Organisational Psychology from University of Cape Town (UCT), B.Admin (Hons) Industrial Psychology from University of the Western Cape (UWC), Certified Director from the Institute of Directors SA (IoDSA), and
Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC).