{"id":878845,"date":"2026-10-08T10:21:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T08:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=878845"},"modified":"2026-10-08T10:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T08:21:23","slug":"coca-cola-paying-over-r250-million-to-try-stop-service-delivery-collapse-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/878845\/coca-cola-paying-over-r250-million-to-try-stop-service-delivery-collapse-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Coca-Cola paying over R250 million to try stop service delivery collapse in South Africa\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Coca-Cola and water sector leaders in South Africa have partnered to invest R500 million in municipal water infrastructure to stop service delivery from collapsing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public-private agreement, called the South Africa Non-Revenue Water Mechanism (NRW), includes funding from five public and development entities and two private sector entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public sectors involved include the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Rand Water Services, the City of Tshwane, Platform for a Water Secure Gauteng, and the World Bank Group’s 2030 Water Resources Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The private sectors involved include the Coca-Cola system, which includes Coca-Cola Beverages Africa and Coca-Cola HBC, as well as the Glocal Water Challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, the partners have pledged a total of R500 million between 2026 and 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The private partners are aiming to mobilise R250 million, which will be matched by another R250 million from public-sector partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa currently loses about 47% of its treated water to pipe leaks, deteriorating infrastructure, and non-revenue water, which is water that is treated but lost before reaching any paying customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWater security is fundamental to South Africa\u2019s economic growth, community resilience, and long-term sustainability,\u201d said Coca-Cola Company Africa operating unit President Luis Felipe Avellar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase one of this initiative starts with a focused pilot stage in the City of Tshwane in Gauteng, which covers Pretoria, Centurion, Akasia, and the surrounding areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first steps of the project will focus on pressure management to reduce municipal leaks and on installing systems to improve monitoring and accountability of industrial effluents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pressure management involves installing automated valves and controls to regulate water pressure in municipal pipes, as pipes often burst or leak when pressure is too high. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowering the pressure can protect ageing pipes from bursting, which can prevent clean treated water from leaking underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrial effluent is the wastewater generated by factories and industrial facilities, which can damage municipal drainage systems, overload treatment systems, or evade proper billing if left unmonitored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Installing dedicated monitoring equipment tracks the volume and quality of wastewater from factories, which can hold commercial businesses accountable for compliance with environmental regulations and ensure fair payment for their share of municipal wastewater processing costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A repeatable model to pump private funding into municipal infrastructure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Coca-Cola HBC CEO Zoran Bogdanovic <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beyond these immediate repairs, the project aims to serve as a repeatable model for attracting private funding for municipal infrastructure, aligning with the National Water Action Plan, and improving the long-term financial stability of local municipalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeyond its direct impact, the initiative demonstrates how collaborative action can help attract private investment and address critical water sector challenges,” said Avellar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It supports the objectives of the National Water Action Plan and provides a scalable, catalytic model that could be replicated across South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister of the DWS welcomed the initiative on behalf of the government, highlighting its support for partnerships that align with national commitments to improve water security and municipal service delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Through the work of the National Water Crisis Committee, we continue to drive collaborative solutions that strengthen municipal capacity and accelerate progress in addressing critical water challenges,” said Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She highlighted the value of government, private, and development partners coming together to support a shared national priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coca-Cola HBC has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa and is actively supporting the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coca-Cola HBC CEO Zoran Bogdanovic highlighted the importance of collaboration among government, business, and development organisations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that such partnerships are inspiring and lay a strong foundation for improving water security across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the initial work will begin in the City of Tshwane, this initiative is designed to expand into other municipalities over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to create a broader, repeatable framework for infrastructure recovery throughout South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coca-Cola and water sector leaders in South Africa have pledged a total of R500 million to prop up water infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":806825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2108110661343490371","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2230226841131048","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18053588315589963","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1814,24596,25596],"class_list":["post-878845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-coca-cola","tag-department-of-water-and-sanitation-dws","tag-non-revenue-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878845"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878892,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878845\/revisions\/878892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}