More than 300 Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) employees gathered at Tembisa High School to renovate the school on July 9.
This was done in line with the company’s commitment to the Centenary Celebration Mandela Month initiative.
CCBSA’s Brenda Khadambi said as part of CCBSA’s Employee Volunteerism Programme (EVP), the group installed new ceilings in classrooms, painted seven classrooms, revamped the face brick front of the school, reinstalled chalkboards and build 10 outdoor wooden benches and seven teacher tables.
CCBSA’s plant manager Hugoh Ndudzo said CCBSA leads in community development, community partnerships and they chose Tembisa High for the project because Tembisa is a key focus area for CCBSA.
“We have 2 800 outlets, three local distribution partners, three wholesalers and a lot of customers.
“One of the things in making the community better is to touch on the school today.
“I believe we will leave the school better than we found it.
“When the learners come back I believe they will find it better than they left it,” Ndudzo said.
He said when they return to their work employees need to remember what they did goes beyond the day and goes beyond this generation as CCBSA continues to better communities.
Tembisa High principal Steve Ngwane said the school would not have survived without the help of CCBSA.
“I feel so excited to partner with CCBSA because the school had a challenge with infrastructure.
“I want to thank CCBSA for choosing Tembisa High for their CSI project,” said Ngwane.
Education Circuit manager Sebushi Maponya said Tembisa High is one of the schools that are competing with former model-C schools in terms of performance and its something that needs to be maintained through the partnership with CCBSA.
“In the district, it is the first time we see a company that has taken out so many of its employees to work on such a project.
“We can always succeed by putting our shoulders to the wheel and partnering with companies like CCBSA,” said Maponya.
Corporate Social Investment (CSI) specialist from the CCBSA central office Kabelo Mohono said going to the school is CCBSA’s opportunity to make a difference, physically, by giving of CCBSA’s time and effort to hopefully take the school back to its former glory and to give the children who attend it hope.
“Given the number of challenges the country faces, it’s important for government, citizens and corporates to work together to uplift communities.
“We can only ever see results if we consolidate our efforts towards the development of our country and its people. Our work and efforts should always be geared towards making things better wherever we can,” Mohono said.
Pirtunia Dhlamini, the Gauteng regional public affairs manager, said: “This school has a rich history and heritage, having been established in 1965 and moved to these premises in 1972.
“We believe this is a particularly appropriate way to honour Madiba and give the employees a chance to give more than their 67 minutes of community service.”
Mohono concluded by saying: “CCBSA is committed to meaningfully contributing to the communities we serve through projects that support education and economic growth. This is just one of many ways we are making a difference – and we are very grateful for the opportunity to do that.”
The school governing body’s (SGB) Papiki Manyanye thanked everyone who contributed to making the renovation project possible.
