Gwakwani
Photo Credit: Screenshot from Video

Gwakwani village, once considered the forgotten village of South Africa has blossomed from being completely off-the-grid with only one employed person, to becoming a smart-village that even has its own solar bakery!

 

Gwakwani, South Africa (21 March, 2024)—Ten years ago, the village of Gwakwani considered days with cellphone service, internet access and even electricity were dreams of the future.

For Godfrey Nefolovhodwe and others from the village of just 100 people, it was easy to feel as though they were the forgotten people of South Africa. Tucked away in the Northern part of Limpopo, the people of the village were as off-the-grid from the rest of the country as one can imagine. To put things into perspective, in 2014, there was only one employed person there, no running water and mundane tasks like charging cellphones could only be done after a trip was taken to another, more developed area. And being able to do homework after hours? Forget about it.

But in 2014, things changed when the University of Johannesburg’s School of Engineering and its partners decided decided that this was an opportunity to conduct research while making real impact.

After approaching the area’s chief and local council, imperative, sustainable and innovative work was underway for Gwakwani. From a diesel borehole being replaced with a solar one to a network of taps and tanks to the welcomed installation of solar lights in both homes and on the streets, change came fast and wonderfully.

Not only were infrastructure basics with a sustainable twist implemented, the community also got its first creche(a solar powered one at that) and a solar bakery where bakers were trained by the university. This has meant that more people in the village are employed, bread is not only for special occasions and the community can sell their bakes to other communities, creating something the village most certainly never had before—an economy.

In other exciting news, Gwakwani residents are also farming and creating veggie gardens largely made possible by a community drip irrigation system.

People like Godfrey have been trained in technical skills so that all the infrastructure has boots on the ground to keep them doing their very important jobs.

But the real magic of how the tech works, is through a remote monitoring solution.

In even more good news for Gwakwani and its surrounding areas, a community development trust has also reportedly been promised, as UJ shares. Hopes are high that the R5 million budget will help several areas develop from rural regions to places of livelihood.

Watch: Gwakwani’s Transformation


Sources: University of Johannesburg 
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About the Author

Ashleigh Nefdt is a writer for Good Things Guy.

Ashleigh's favourite stories have always seen the hidden hero (without the cape) come to the rescue. As a journalist, her labour of love is finding those everyday heroes and spotlighting their spark - especially those empowering women, social upliftment movers, sustainability shakers and creatives with hearts of gold. When she's not working on a story, she's dedicated to her canvas or appreciating Mother Nature.

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