Keep Thembisa’s Kaalspruit River and streams clean
Public participation in water resource management is critical in improving and restoring the quality of degraded water resources (Ananga 2015; IWA Publishing 2019). This Mandela Month, the Department of Water and Sanitation is calling on South Africans to participate in the annual Clear Rivers Campaign to help address the scourge of limited water supplies across many parts of the country.
The Kaalspruit River is one such example of a highly polluted system in the country. According to a study by IWA Publishing 2019, it flows through two municipalities, the City of Johannesburg (COJ) and Ekurhuleni (COE), specifically in the residential and Clayville industrial areas, and surrounding communities such as Thembisa and Ivory Park.
Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) runs operations from three manufacturing plants in parts of the COJ and COE municipalities, namely Devland in Soweto, Wadeville in the south-east of Hazel Park, and south of Lambton, Nigel, and Midrand, which is in the Clayville Industrial location (Mapcarta.com).
Public affairs, communication, and sustainability manager at CCBSA Pirtunia Dhlamini, said water is the first ingredient in their beverages, so safe and clean water is also critical to the long-term success of their business. “Therefore, we are cognisant that reliable access to good and safe water is essential to life, nature, and the health of our communities. Together with The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), we are leaders in using water responsibly in our operations and giving it back.”
Dhlamini added that they continue to manage water resources through country projects that reduce water use in their operations, protect local water resources, and provide safe, clean drinking water to communities in need. “Such projects include the Coke Ville borehole water project in parts of the Limpopo and Inland areas, the Replenish Africa Initiative, and recently the Nelson Mandela Bay ‘Day Zero’ – our water tanker has delivered 350 000 litres of water since the launch of the programme on June 23, 2022.”
Supporting the Clear Rivers Campaign with the COE this Mandela Month is a responsibility that CCBSA and TCCC take very seriously and want to help solve. “Clearly, plastics are a significant global challenge; as seen with the Kaalspruit River polluted with solid waste, mainly plastic as a result of illegal dumping on the riverbanks, and in some cases overloaded sewer systems,” Dhlamini concluded.
CCBSA’s commitment is to invest in the planet and its packaging to help make the world’s packaging problem a thing of the past. This is a part of their World Without Waste sustainable packaging initiative which was launched by TCCC in 2018.
Some of their goals across the African continent are to:
- Help collect for recycling the equivalent of 100% of their packaging by 2030
- Create packaging that is at least 50% recycled material by 2030 (25% by 2025)
- Make all their consumer packaging 100% recyclable by 2025
- Make 25% of their packaging reusable by 2030.
CCBSA public affairs, communications and sustainability director Nozicelo Ngcobo said safe and clean water is imperative for healthy communities and critical to the long-term business sustainability of the company.
“We are mindful that reliable access to good and safe water is essential to life, nature, and the health of our communities,” she added. “CCBSA is a leader in using water responsibly in our operations and giving it back.”
She added that CCBSA continued to manage water resources through country projects that reduce water use in their operations, protect local water resources, and provide safe, clean drinking water to communities in need.
Across the world, approximately 2.1 billion people live in potentially water-scarce areas, with South Africa being one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. It is also prone to droughts. In SA, there are more than three million households without access to clean running water.
For Mandela Day, around 300 volunteers worked at Kaalspruit River to clear the solid waste and other hazardous material. Volunteer teams collected 250 bags of waste from the Kaalspruit system.
Coca-Cola’s Water Stewardship Strategy 2030
Coca-Cola’s Water Stewardship Strategy 2030 is a three-pronged approach around stewardship of water including regenerative operations, healthy watersheds, and resilient communities.
Sustainable water stewardship is even more critical in a country such as South Africa which is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world and prone to droughts. SA also has more than three million households without access to clean running water.
Regenerative operations are intended to reduce locally shared water challenges by preventing water wastage, reducing the amount of water being used and safely discharging water, as well as through reducing, reusing, recycling and replenishing water within CCBSA operations.
Enhanced community water resilience is focused on the provision of clean access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities, especially for women and girls who are the most vulnerable in most of the communities in which CCBSA operates.
Healthy watersheds are about rehabilitation, restoration and protection of watersheds and catchment areas to ensure long term, sustainable and cost-effective water security through nature-based solutions such as clearing of alien invasive species and cleaning up of waste.
