A local initiative aimed at developing a smart trolley system to assist informal recyclers, recently won the fourth annual #IdeasForChange challenge. This was according to Hanli Brink, operations director at Stellenbosch Network.
The #IdeasForChange challenge is an initiative of Stellenbosch Network, which according to their website, is a cross-sector, membership organisation that aims to integrate corporate, government, and municipal relations in sustainable ways. The awards event took place on 22 February, at Amazink in Kayamandi.
“This is the first time we are hosting the event [since Covid-19],” said Brink, who attributes the #IdeasForChange to Wesley Diphoko, editor-in-chief of Fast Company Magazine.
“I thought: What can I do to instigate the change that I would like to see in my community?” said Diphoko at the event in Kayamandi.
Wesley Diphoko, editor-in-chief of Fast Company Magazine, has devised the Smart Kayamandi initiative to transform the township into an innovation lab, where technology functions to bridge the gap between inefficient housing, healthcare, safety, education, and public services. PHOTO: Talia Kincaid
Techno-township
“The idea is to integrate low- and high-tech solutions into the community,” said Brink in a statement shared with MatieMedia on 21 February.
Through the initiative, which offered its winners a share of R30 000, Stellenbosch Network hopes to establish Kayamandi as a smart township by encouraging entrepreneurs and technologists “to use technology in innovative ways”, said Diphoko.
“I’m just amazed at the bright young minds […] who also want to make a difference,” Brink added. A total of 44 projects were entered into this year’s competition, said Brink, who explained that the ideas were evaluated by a panel of academics, municipal officials, and specialists.
With the R20 000 cash prize, winners of the #IdeasForChange challenge, Chuma Lalendle and Sbahle Mgijima hope to facilitate a sponsor-funded pilot project once their app has been designed. PHOTO: Talia Kincaid
Recycling as part of community culture
The winning project, Smart Trolley Recycling, was developed by Stellenbosch University (SU) logistics department lecturer Chuma Lalendle, and AAA School of Advertising student Sbahle Mgijima. “We’d like to have recycling as part of the culture for the community,” said Lalendle.
The project combines recycling with a digital application that will facilitate communication between waste-pickers and households, according to Mgijima. “The same way you request a car on Uber, you’d be able to request a picker to collect your waste,” explained Lalendle.
Second place was awarded to a WhatsApp-based chatbot that combats inefficient clinic-queues, developed by Retief Louw. Third place was awarded to a geoinformatics-platform, developed by Onai Mtengwa and Tinobokashe Ncube.
The runners-up received R6 000 and R4 000 respectively, stated Brink.
#IdeasForChange winner, Chuma Lalendle, explains that their proposed project, Smart Trolley Recycling, will generate points for the households that contribute to the initiative. These points will incentivise sustainable living, by being converted into electricity units and data bundles through PayGoZo. PHOTO: Talia Kincaid
Concerns over applicability
Meanwhile, one community leader has raised concerns about the implementation of practical sustainable solutions in Kayamandi.
“It cannot just be about the idea,” said Vuyokazi Luxande, senior consultant at Resolve and Change Systems. “There’s a lot of education that needs to happen,” said Luxande when referring to the rollout of, for example, the smart trolley initiative. Luxande works closely with social development challenges in Kayamandi, and has stated that approaches to implement similar recycling programmes have fallen through.
Finalists pose with judges following the announcement of Smart Trolley Recycling’s first place. This was the first time the #IdeasForChange Challenge was held in person. The initiative was established in 2020 during the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic, where the winners were announced on social media. Pictured from top left to bottom right, editor-in-chief of Fast Company magazine, Wesley Diphoko, chairperson of the Division of Student Affairs and Transformation forum at Stellenbosch University (SU), Yeki Mosomothane, senior director of Social Impact and Transformation at SU, Leslie van Rooi, executive director of Ranyaka Community Transformation, Johan Olivier, winners Sbahle Mgijima, Chuma Lalendle, second-place contestant, Retief Louw, and third-place contestants, Tinobokashe Ncube, and Onai Mtengwa. PHOTO: Talia Kincaid