OWN CORRESPONDENT, Atlanta | Friday 2.30pm.
COCA-Cola will not allow tension in Zimbabwe to ruin its plans for huge investment in South Africa, a Coca-Cola executive said in Atlanta.
“We’re there for the long haul,” said Carl Ware, executive vice president for Coca-Cola. “We’ve just opened a major bottling plant in Angola. We’re still doing business in Congo. We’re staying put.”
Ware said that Coca-Cola has 85% to 90% of the market for its type of drink in South Africa. He said that an announcement last week by Coca-Cola chief executive officer Douglas Daft that the company plans to invest $1-billion in Africa is evidence of commitment to the region.
Ware made his comments at a reception and dinner hosted by Coca-Cola for President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday night.
South Africa’s deputy director for Europe and the United States, Jerry Matsila, said that South Africa will not “sweep under the carpet” the upheaval in Zimbabwe and that the delegation wants to reassure investors during its visit.
“We’re interested in an atmosphere for trade,” Matsila said. “We share the concerns for law and order. We have questions about the stability. We want to help solve the questions of stability.”
Matsila said that the objective behind the visit to Atlanta is to continue to build economic relations and to strengthen “cultural, historical, and emotional ties” with the cradle of the civil rights movement for African-Americans.
The event hosted by Coca-Cola comes as the company faces a lawsuit from eight current and former employees who allege that it practises racial discrimination and does not fairly promote managers. — AFP