Elandspark lad continues to shine in hackathons

Elandspark’s Simphiwe Radebe (20) and his team, Green Titans, came second and won R20 000 in the recent hackathon at Sci-Bono on December 2.

He said he created a new solution for small-scale farmers and households.

“I created an automatic plant watering system (APWS) that tackles the water wastage crisis by watering your plants only when the soil is dry and not unnecessarily. Homeowners with gardens can also use it,” he said.

The Android developer, who works for Standard Bank, said the Imvelisi Developing African Entrepreneurs organised the Circular Economy Hackathon, which was based on water wastage and management and different forms of recycling.

He said they had to come up with solutions to solve these problems.

“We were about 50 participants. Our team chose water wastage and targeted small-scale farmers and households. So, we devised the solution and the app.

“Our solution had to do with automatic irrigation systems in farms. In households, it included checking the soil moisture and watering the plants when needed because other plants do not need water daily. And the app will help to monitor the water in the soil and automates the switching off and on of water,” he said.

The former Diversity High School learner said he doesn’t enter as many hackathons as he would like because of work. However, he will continue to create apps.

“I will always attend hackathons if time permits. I’m also kept busy by my company and volunteering at my church,” he said.

Simphiwe has created many apps, which include Roade, Healthify, Help, and the Diversity High School app.