P&G celebrates 15 years in SA

Procter & Gamble South Africa's general manager, Stanislav Vecera

“We are here to stay and we are committed to South Africa and Africa, a region we believe it is so much underserved,” Stanislav Vecera, P&G's newly-appointed GM, said on Wednesday night, 9 December 2009, at the Saxon Hotel in Sandhurst, Johannesburg.

“We are also working hard to consolidate our commitment to social development, which includes education for teenage girls, well-being of mothers and vaccination of new-born babies,” Vecera added.

P&G has also been active in corporate social investment areas such as NGO sponsorships and early child development.

P&G has been in existence worldwide for the past 172 years, boasting operations in 90 countries and selling brands in about 180 countries.

The US firm entered the SA market in 1994 and has since established 23 brands, including household names such as Gillette, Pampers, Head & Shoulders, Pantene and Always.

P&G also owns a Pampers manufacturing plant in Kempton Park, valued at US$40 million (R300 million), which is due to be expanded in 2010 to include a second production line, at the cost of $30 million.

Blake Mosley Lefatole, CEO of Gauteng Economic Development Agency (GEDA), praised P&G, saying: “What you have achieved is a quality product and we have the confidence in your ability to do more, and we will deepen our relationship with you.

“This is only the beginning of a long journey and I am pretty sure we will walk together for many years to come,” he added.

Furthermore, Vecera said P&G supports BEE (black economic empowerment) practices, both ‘externally and internally'.

Currently the company is level six-BEE compliant and is continuously investigating new avenues for initiating support of BEE initiatives.