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Thabo Mothibi, Managing Editor, thabo@ncnn.live
The Department of Energy will be installing 10 000 solar water geysers in two municipalities of the Northern Cape. The department’s acting Deputy Director General of Clean Energy Mokgadi Modise informed the province’s Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition in De Aar that 6000 are set for roll-out in the Sol Plaatje and 4000 for the Emthanjeni local municipalities in this financial year.
“The department has committed to work very closely with participating municipalities through the signing of Framework Agreements during the implementation of this programme. This will include activities that need to be done prior to installation such as the social facilitation and technical feasibility assessments so as to ensure that this phase of the programme becomes a success and that some of the technical challenges experienced before at Sol Plaatje municipality that led to dysfunctional geysers are averted,” she said
Modise indicated that the solar water geysers are locally manufactured and verified by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). “The establishment of measurement and verification of local content had to be done among others. To date, as a country we can confirm that there is local manufacturing capacity in this specific area and we can look forward to a seamless roll out,” she added.
In her input during a panel discussion, Premier Sylvia Lucas called for young and local people to be empowered through business opportunities and skills transfer during the roll out. Speaking from the floor, Sol Plaatje municipality councillor Themba Gomba also pleaded for installers to be sourced locally.
In response, Modise pointed out that a workshop is to be held at which municipalities are to be briefed on the requirements relating to the departments’s National Solar Water Heater Programme (NSWHP) efforts of embracing local installers. She added that the post-installation benefits will also include maintenance hence those that are skilled in plumbing can also look out for opportunities.
The installations are aimed of lessening the burden of the high cost of electricity on poor households through off-grid technologies. The department is also expected to implement plans on the repair of hundreds of malfunctioning solar water heaters that are currently atop the roofs of many households in the province.
Meanwhile, the conference draws to a close today with discussions of yesterday having delved into enhanced community participation, local manufacturing, the emergence of black industrialists and an improved stake in relation to black ownership in future bid windows when Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are appointed. The Northern Cape bears the lion’s share of South Africa’s 112 renewable energy projects with 59 mainly solar farms and a few wind farms dotting the provinces vast landscape. #REC18 #DeAarComesAlive
By Thabo Mothibi
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Thabo Mothibi is a former broadcast journalist (TV and Radio) – with specialist reporting experience; SABC Political/Parliamentary and TRC Teams over a period of five years (1995 to 2000).
One key foreign assignment - is the 11-nation African Connection Rally – overland journey from Africa’s northern-most pole in the coastal Tunisian city of Bizerte to the southern-most pole in South Africa’s Cape Agulhas. From the journalistic years, Thabo then delved into Government media liaison and serving two former Ministers and three MECs. He became the Northern Cape Provincial Government’s first department based Communications Director at Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development - 2008-2010 – where he also served as Head of Ministry from 2003 – 2008.
As a former anti-apartheid activist, his political background and professional training aided him in spearheading the Northern Cape ANC’s 2004 National Elections media and publicity campaign and that of the 2006 Local Government Elections.
Whilst based in Waterkloof in Pretoria -2010 to end 2011, he consulted for Manstrat Agricultural Intelligence, then returned to the Northern Cape in 2012 to date, to consult independently and pursue other entrepreneurial interests in media and communications through KwaVuko Communications and Marketing.
Thabo Mothibi obtained his NQF7 through Wits University’s Graduate School of Public and Development Management (P&DM) in Johannesburg, a Unilever Mandela Rhodes Academy for Marketing and Communications Academy (UMRA). The goal of the NQF7 programme was to educate and train public and private sector professional communicators and marketers in government communications..
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