This hyacinth removal project is currently being implemented in Hartebeespoort Dam near Pretoria, one of the most severely affected by water hyacinth growth.
Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa – Mintirho Foundation, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa’s (CCBSA) foundation, has invested R25m in Hya Matla Organics, an innovative start-up whose core business is turning water hyacinth into viable commercial products such as fertiliser and animal feed.
The water hyacinth is an invasive plant that grows in polluted water and further compromises water quality.
In 2018 CCBSA pledged during its supplier development conference – that it will divert a whopping R3,9 billion in procurement spend to black-owned and black women-owned companies over three years.
This year Hya Matla Organics is one of the beneficiaries of this initiative and with a little help from CocaCola South Africa Mintirho Foundation, Hya Matla is now ready to start doing serious business.
The Mintirho Foundation is CCBSA’s vehicle for supporting the development of historically disadvantaged emerging farmers and small suppliers of inputs into the CCBSA value chain. The foundation’s executive manager Noxolo Kahlana said Hya Matla Organics caught the foundation’s eye because it’s business model is to remove waste from catchment areas and preserve water.
“Water is something on which our business is totally dependent, and in a water-scarce country like ours, we have a responsibility as an industry to help where we can to conserve water. Therefore, supporting initiatives aimed at cleaning our water catchment areas is critical, and something that CCBSA is committed to advancing,” Kahlana said.
“As CCBSA, we understand that it will take more than one entity to deal with the challenge of conserving water and keeping it clean for consumption, hence our decision to support this project and to ensure it is a success,” Kahlana added.
By investing in Hya Matla Organics, the Mintirho Foundation is not only helping to clean up polluted waterways, but it is also promoting the development of a black-owned start-up company with an innovative and sustainable business model.
Said John Kondowe, executive director of Hya Matla Organics, “By harvesting the plant and turning it into organic fertiliser, we complete the cycle of turning the pollutants into nutrients which then feed plants or animals. Thus integrating the cycle back into economic ecosystems which benefit the economy at large.”
The project is currently being implemented in Hartebeespoort Dam near Pretoria, one of the most severely affected by water hyacinth growth.
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