Eskom engineer takes SAIEE engineer of the Year

Nov 15, 2016

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Last month Eskom’s Dr Nhlanhla Mbuli was named engineer of the year by the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) at is annual banquet and awards ceremony at the Wanderers club in Johannesburg.

SAIEE engineering award

The parastatal explains that this annual award is presented to a member of the SAIEE who has energetically and voluntary worked towards promoting electrical science and its applications to the benefit of the SAIEE, members and the Southern African community through their involvement in the institute’s affairs.

The award recognises and honours the member for his or her contribution.

“Dr Mbuli comfortably went beyond the minimum requirements as his contribution goes beyond just volunteering,” the utility said in a statement.

“It also extends to working and mentoring young engineers as a practicing practitioner as well as an academic, supervising post graduate engineering students amongst other contributions he makes to the profession.”

Extending beyond the ‘power line’

In other Eskom news, the Eskom Development Foundation has donated materials to help improve teaching and learning at the Tonga View Primary School near Malelane in Mpumalanga.

The donation entailed the procurement and installation of a five-door partition to turn the school hall into two separate classrooms. Prior to the donation, learners and educators of two different classes used to share the space, and this made both teaching and learning difficult.

According to the utility, Tonga View Primary is the only school in the area with learners from Grade R to Grade 7, and they have always struggled to accommodate them in their 16 classrooms, which include three mobile ones.

The school has always grappled with overcrowding and this donation from Eskom has helped ease it to an extent. Most of the non-fee paying school’s learners are from underprivileged families who depend on social grants for survival.

After building the hall, with the help of parents and the school’s governing body, they needed further assistance in the form of partitioning, which could help them use it for multiple purposes. With the installation of the fold-aside doors by the Eskom Foundation, the room can now be used as two classrooms as well as a hall, as and when necessary.

The donation is part of the Eskom Foundation’s drive to bring about meaningful and sustainable development through social infrastructure. One of the key objectives of supporting education is to create an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning in schools.

The Eskom Development Foundation’s acting CEO, Cecil Ramonotsi, says the Foundation is committed to making a difference in communities and showing that Eskom is more than just an electricity supplier.

“Donations such as these to schools and other social structures are amongst the many ways we are working on achieving our goals and bringing about positive change and growth,” says Ramonotsi.