A partnership resulted in empowering the lives of a the Gwakwani Village Community in Limpopo with access to solar-powered devices.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Schneider Electric South Africa, worked together to change the lives of 70 to 100 villagers. Entrepreneurs from the village were trained to sell and maintain solar-powered portable LED lamps which come with a mobile charger
The units are especially suited for the demanding rural environment of Gwakwani, as it is an energy efficient, eco-friendly and robust portable lamp producing 120-lumen light output.
Schneider Electric head of sustainable development, Anglophone Africa Cluster, Zanelle Dalglish said, as part of their sustainable development strategy, they focus on either creating access to energy or educating students.
“When an opportunity arises to combine the two, it’s always an amazing opportunity which the Gwakwani project is a perfect example of. We were able to look at a village which doesn’t have energy and make it an educational opportunity to merge our vision of creating access to energy and education. This village is one of the examples of the many projects we are currently doing,” said Dalglish.
She added what makes it unique is the strategic partnership that they have with UJ. The university was responsible for selecting this particular community.
They were working on the outskirts of Venda looking for a remote area to start the project with its students.
“The value added to the people in the village is massive. Everyone from this community is living off government grants, there were no developments taking place prior to this project. Creating access to solar has definitely become an enabler for economic activity,” explained Dalglish.
The project was officially launched at UJ on 12 March.
UJ head of school electrical engineering Professor Johan Meyer said it’s important for students to get exposed to the world outside of their immediate environment. They train engineers of the future and believe the whole country needs to benefit.
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