Post misleads on Coca-Cola’s planned job cuts in South Africa
- Published on October 14, 2025 at 16:49
- 2 min read
- By Tendai DUBE, AFP South Africa
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As Coca-Cola in South Africa prepares to do battle with a local union over proposed job cuts, a social media post claims the beverage company has fired more than 600 foreign drivers to employ South Africans. However, the company and the union deny this, saying official consultations between the two parties are still ongoing. There is also no evidence that the intended labour action targets foreigners or drivers, many of whom are contractors and not employees.
“Coca-Cola South Africa fired 604 of their drivers from Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, awarded their jobs to South Africans,” reads an X post published on October 2, 2025.
According to the post, “Coca-Cola South Africa is a patriotic company” and sees “the importance of employing South Africans”, adding that “foreigners deserve employment too” but “they have to provide special skills”.
The post, shared over 800 times, was published by an account with more than 40,000 followers. Most of the content it shares is related to South African politics.
Looming job losses
News of the planned restructuring by Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) emerged in September when the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) received notice from the company of a Section 189 job cuts process.
In South Africa, Section 189 outlines the legal process that employers need to follow when cutting jobs to ensure it is procedurally fair and based on valid reasons (archived here).
It begins with a notice of intention to restructure, followed by consultations, a final decision, and, lastly, dispute resolution. The matter with Coca-Cola is still at the formal consultation stage.
When FAWU received notice, the union claimed the bottling giant had not followed the correct process, vowing to contest the proposed staff cuts (archived here).
However, the claim on X is misleading.
Unfolding process
Contacted by AFP Fact Check, CCBSA spokeswoman Motshidisi Mokwena said the X post claim is “factually incorrect”.
“In response to evolving industry dynamics, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa has made organisational adjustments that have unfortunately resulted in some roles being impacted,” Mokwena said on October 7, 2025.
She said CCBSA is “complying with all applicable labour laws and processes, and our priority is to support affected colleagues with fairness, transparency, and compassion during this transition.
She added that “consultations are still underway”.
The union confirmed this to AFP Fact Check on October 9, 2025.
“FAWU is still busy working on a counter proposal,” said spokeswoman Dominique Martin.
Media reports in September said the majority of the 680 affected employees were cleaners, and not drivers as claimed (here and here).
Martin added that according to FAWU members who work for CCBSA, “the company does not employ any foreigners”, and that “the majority of the drivers are owners of the trucks because of a drivership scheme that the company had”.
A 2022 statement issued by Mercedes-Benz explained that CCBSA used a combination of owner-drivers who are contracted individuals and third-party logistics providers (archived here).
The restructuring news comes a few months after CCBSA announced an investment of 365 million rand (approximately $21 million) in a new bottling line capable of producing 72,000 bottles per hour in Johannesburg, South Africa (archived here).
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