SOUTH AFRICA – Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), the eighth largest Coca-Cola bottling partner worldwide by revenue, has announced the retirement of Velaphi Ratshefola from his current role as managing director of Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) effective January 31st.
Velaphi will remain in the CCBSA upon retirement as a non-executive chairman of the CCBSA board, using the opportunity to mentor future stars.
He commented, “Jacques and the leadership have seen fit to appoint me as non-executive chairman for CCBSA. I’ll still be involved in the business and hope to add value.”
Velaphi has been active in this role as MD since his appointment in 2016. He led the integration in South Africa where six different entities were merged to create CCBA. Until his appointment as CCBA MD, he was the MD of ABI.
He highlighted, “Not many leaders get an opportunity to merge two companies…merging six with different cultures and different systems into one CCBSA was a special honour that will always be humbling for me.”
According to CCBA website, under his leadership, the SA business has won multiple global and supplier awards. Velaphi remained committed to creating a conducive environment for women to thrive.
For his efforts in the empowerment of women, he has won the Women in Leadership Award at the CCBA General Management Conference and the Top Gender Empowered Male: Driving Gender Empowerment at the Standard Bank Top Women Awards for three consecutive years.
Velaphi said, “I think we worked hard to drive a culture of diversity and inclusivity, based on the foundations of good performance. The more we perform, the more opportunities we will have to reflect the whole of South Africa inside and outside the business.”
CCBSA partners with Henley Business School
The announcement comes days after CCBSA announced its partnership with Henley Business School seeking to empower suppliers in the CCBSA value chain by equipping them with specialised business skills.
Nozicelo Ngcobo, Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability director at CCBSA said, “The primary focus of the partnership is to ensure that small, micro, and medium enterprises can play a meaningful role in the mainstream economy.”
The 2024 CCBSA-Henley Business School Supplier Development programme kicked off on Wednesday 17 January with the official launch at the Henley Business School Africa campus near Rivonia.
A total of 20 suppliers will attend the 12-month programme at HBS to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice, a NQF-8 level qualification.
The programme is targeted at suppliers who are at least 51% black-owned, 100% black and black female owned businesses, exempt micro-enterprises, or qualifying small enterprises in line with the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Codes of Good Practice.
Henley Business School, Director of Executive Education & Head of Learning Experience, Linda Buckley said: “This is such an important initiative to help small business owners grow their businesses and increase their contribution to the overall economy, including creating much needed jobs and supporting livelihoods.”
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