WEBVTT
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Did you make any installations on the street?
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Yes, I have.
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Okay.
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This wasn't.
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Hey, I'm CMO Kwena.
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And I'm working in Nomsam.
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It's an informal settlement just a few hours northeast of Johannesburg, right in the heartland of coal.
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But today is all about solar.
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We're working to A21.
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We're going to do the installation.
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We're doing the installation now.
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Timberly Hilukele installed Sola, and today she's taking me to the home of her favorite customer.
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Okay, you guys can come in.
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Tabilem CB's four grandkids are running around her.
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She's in her 60s, and so Timbelise also calls her Goko.
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Or granny.
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Goko's been waiting for weeks for the team to come and install her second solar kit.
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Maranja, every day I call Tembelise, telling me I'm coming, Goko, I'm coming.
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No problem.
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Goko's home is just like her.
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Warm and inviting.
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It's corrugated metal.
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The outside is painted dark red, the window frames are lime green.
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It's one of the nicest houses in Nom Zam.
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Three bedrooms for seven people, separated by lace curtains.
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And then Gogo shows me where she sleeps.
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Put this side to sleep like this.
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Finish.
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When I stepped into Gogo's home, it took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust.
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It's so dark.
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Even though it's bright and sunny outside, her windows don't let that much light in.
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Gogo's kitchen stove runs on wood and coal, so there's black ash everywhere.
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She would love an electric stove, but that's just out of the question.
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Electric stove is too much money.
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Just to light her home at night, she used to spend hundreds of dollars a year to buy candles and paraffin.
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But that changed about a year ago when she got her first solar unit.
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And today she's getting her second.
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Lulama Masego is on top of Goku Tabile's house.
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He's small and thin, which helps when you're balancing on a roof.
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Drill in one hand, solar panel in the other.
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With the panel mounted to the roof, Lulama runs a set of wires to his colleague inside.
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Lindogliemalaza takes it from there.
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He grabs the wire and threads it through Goko's house.
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He attaches it to a couple of lights inside and one right outside the front door.
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He then adds a USB port so that Goko Tabile can charge her phone.
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It took about 30 minutes for the whole installation, and now they are packing up.
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Everything's done now.
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There was no problems at all.
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The team has installed about 400 solar panels in Nom Zamu.
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Lindo Wushe knows his customers are happy to have a reliable and safe source of electricity.
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And he likes having reliable and safe work too.
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Yeah, because I can't expect everything from her.
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Yeah.
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For Lindogu and Timbelishe, their jobs are about more than money.
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They're building their careers in an industry that's supposed to replace coal and reduce carbon emissions.
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In Nomzamu, it's opening up possibilities to make it a better place to live, while also raising questions about the limitations of renewable energy.
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In South Africa, an estimated 1.5 million homes are not connected to a power grid.
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And for those who are connected, about 85% of that electricity comes from coal-fired power plants.
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While the government says it is working to get electricity to more people, Nomzamo, the small community of about 400 households, is testing an alternative to coal, solar power.
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Communities like Namzamu having access to solar is a key part of what South Africa's government has called the just energy transition.
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Simply put, the just energy transition is supposed to make things fair as the country shifts away from coal and towards cleaner power.
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But can renewables create the same opportunities that coal did?
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And how close to a perfect solution is needed to create the fairness promised by this just transition?
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In other words, how much justice in renewable energy is just enough?
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Places like Numzamo were left behind long before anyone started talking about moving away from coal.
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Numzamo is what we call an informal settlement.
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There are a few thousand of these communities in South Africa, and they generally have high rates of poverty, few jobs, and for young people, there's not a lot of hope for the future.
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Even though our reporter Siamugwena knows places like Nomzamo really well, he grew up not too far from there.
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He wanted to visit Nomzamo to get a sense of how renewable energy is changing things, especially for young people like himself.
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So he got Spessile Makakula to show him around.
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Welcome to my community.
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This is Nomzamo.
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So I'm happy to introduce you in everything that is happening here in Nomzamo.
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I'm happy to show you everything.
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Speciale is one of a handful of young people who are selling, installing, and maintaining solar power in this community.
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As we walk, Speciale points out house of the house.
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Everyone in this street is my guy.
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Actually, like every house that you are seeing in this street.
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Yeah, he's like here on my right, it's A323.
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It's also my guy, and it's manga's house.
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Since the project started a year ago, Spaceisha has sold starter solar kits to about half of Nom Zamo.
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That has made him low-key famous among his neighbors.
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He's a charming, smooth-talking salesman.
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The kind of guy who could really sell anything to anyone.
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The solar kits are built by Peko Power, a company based in Johannesburg.
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Peco Power designed the kits to be robust, easy to install, and affordable.
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And they hired Spessische and other young people, calling them Peco Champions, to go door to door and sell the devices.
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It costs 80 Rand a month or about$4, and eventually the renters own the unit.
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Specific's sister Ronaldo says that's a big deal for people living in Nom Zamo, especially when the town's name means struggle or effort.
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So we are used to this thing of fetching water and everything.
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Ronal is 27.
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She has a degree in financial management.
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Her son was born three years ago, around the time she moved to Nomzama with her mother and brother.
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And I was like, oh, this place is so cool.
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Kids playing on the street.
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It's already an environment that have built and it has been a friendly and welcoming environment.
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Nomzamo hasn't been around for a long time.
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The first houses started to go up less than a decade ago.
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We heard that the mayor of the nearby town of Ermalo let some families move on to vacant land after floods left them homeless.
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But the government doesn't provide any services here.
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That means no electricity, no running water, no waste removal.
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Still, some residents found a way to connect their homes to nearby electricity and water.
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None of it is legal.
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Spacile says they've just learned to rely on each other.
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We help each other.
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Anything that is bothering you is bothering me, it's bothering my neighbor.
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We come to Kedah and find a solution.
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Despite being called an informal settlement, Nomzamo is highly organized.
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There's a neighborhood watch, a woman's group, a leadership committee.
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And I don't want to give you the idea that Nomzamo is in the middle of nowhere.
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It's just on the outskirts of Urmelo, a highly developed coal town of more than 150,000 people.
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Urmelo is well lit compared to Nomzamo.
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Specifically says that before solar power, the nights in Nomzamo were tough.
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After seven, it's not easy to walk around Nomsamo because it's too dark.
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It's dark.
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You know, darkness always it brings that fear.
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So it's scary.
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That's all it's scary.
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At seven o'clock, you will see no one on the street.
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It's much better than candlelight, brighter and safer, and of course cheaper too.
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They were spending two to three times more on candles than on the monthly rental of a solar kit.
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And on the streets of Nom Zamo, the solar lighting is achieving something really amazing.
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So my producer Dash and Moodley and I came back to see it for ourselves.
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So we're getting outside of the car.
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We just arrived in Namzamo again for the second time today.
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Hello, hello.
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Hello.
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Before solar power, it was pitch black here.
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You wouldn't even be able to see your own feet.
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People were worried about falling and hurting themselves or getting hurt by someone else.
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It was very scary.
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But a year ago, the Peko Champions installed 60 double lamp streetlights, and as we're driving, I can see the difference.
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The areas with the street lamps are bright and it feels safe.
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And that it showed that we are developing as a community.
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That's Fiso Slachwayu.
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He lives in Nom Zamua and works for Kutala Environmental Care Group.
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It's a local nonprofit that educates residents about how coal harms their health.
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He says that nowadays there's only one word to describe Nomzamu at night.
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Oh, beautiful.
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That's where you see the solar is working.
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Oh, the solar, everyone talks about we need the solar, we need the it's beautiful.
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Because when there is no electricity around ML, Numzam is the one with the light.
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Suizo is talking about a time recently when the town next door lost power.
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It was due to a planned power cut or what's called load shading in South Africa.
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Power outages are now a part of life.
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But when Ermelo went dark, the lights in Nom Zam are stayed on.
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When there's the low shading, they said, Oh, we're going to Santin now.
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Just call the Ed Num Zam.
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It's electricity.
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Swiss was saying his neighbors bragged about how they were living large.
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Like they were in Santin, the famously wealthy suburb in Johannesburg.
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It's like they are they are proud.
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They are proud to be at Numzhal.
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And yeah, for young people like Space Yeah and his sister Ronal, the street lights make life easier.
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But when solo was first talked about, it wasn't the first thing on their list.
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I would love to evolve around the cell phone.
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Without a cell phone, yo, it's like your your mind is not working, man.
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Like if if you don't have a cell phone, like you can see, yes, my cell phone, but it doesn't have a page.
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It's like you are off of this world.
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You know, like everything is shut down.
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I mean, we all know that feeling when our phone dies, and imagine if there's just no place to plug it in.
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For me, that's a feeling that really hits close to home.
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There was once a time when I was growing up that my family lived in a community just like Namzamu.
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It's a few hours away from here, near another mining town.
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We didn't really have electricity either, so when my phone battery hit 1%, I had to pay someone to charge it for me.
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At some point, my dad got me a cheap solar-powered charger.
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I hung the solar panel from my window, but it didn't really work.
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I even remember a day when my dad asked me to come outside.
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He needed help.
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He was digging a trench with a couple of neighbors so that they could bury a power cable running from the local shop to our homes.
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It wasn't exactly legal, but it was the only way we could get electricity.
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And people in Nomsam have been doing the same thing.
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When it's raining, you know that these wires will be out of the ground.
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What will happen to the kids going to school?
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It's not reliable because anytime the municipality can come and decide to cut it off.
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And then you won't be having power at that moment.
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You know.
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But if you are having vehicle, you will be able to have light, you will be able to charge your phone.
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Yeah, so we bet should we come in?
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Okay.
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But for other families, getting some electricity from solar is not enough.
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It's only lighting and charging.
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Ianda was one of the first people to move into Nom Zam.
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I see you have a fridge here, then how do you use your fridge?
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Illegal connection, to be honest.
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Aanda is not her real name.
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She asked us to call her that because, like a lot of her neighbors, she's still connected to illegal electricity.
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I've talked to the neighbors that had already had their illegal connections.
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Then they connected to me and then I took the cable to the house.
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And while PECO sells much more expensive units that can power a fridge or a TV, it's hard to compete with the mostly free cost of an illegal hookup.
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Especially when it provides enough power to meet one of the biggest needs, which is storing food.
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You're about to go in and see the refrigerator.
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That's basically again the Peko Champion.
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He unlocks and opens the door to a corrugated metal shelter.
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We are inside now and then we are opening the fridge.
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The fridge inside is a chest freezer.
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It's one of the 10 communal freezers spread across Nomsam, all powered by larger solar units and shared by dozens of nearby residents.
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The freezers are here because so many people couldn't afford to buy food in bulk without a way to keep it fresh.
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Many residents said they spent up to half their income on food, and so Maria Mayaba agreed to keep a communal freezer on her property for her neighbors to store their food.
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She said she's available anytime for the community.
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So even if people can call at 10 pm, she wakes up to make sure that the meat is out.
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Okay, it's about uh four packages, yeah.
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Yeah, and then that's it.
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But Ayanda, who relies on illegal electricity, says some people didn't want a communal fridge.
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What they wanted and thought they were going to get was enough electricity to run their own refrigerators in their own houses.
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There are expectations.
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So when time goes on, I became very disappointed at the project.
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So part of her disappointment goes back to how the project got started.
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Before the people living in Num Zamor had access to solar, they were invited to dream big about things way beyond what a small solar unit could provide.
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When they are going to implement this project somewhere else, they have to introduce a better system, not this one.
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Green Cape is a non-profit in Cape Town.
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The ones behind the efforts to bring solar to Namzam.
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People have aspirations and people want more things.
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Rishmi Walvers leads Green Cape's solar project in Namzam.
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They should want more things.
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Um that's not the problem.
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Um they didn't have anything before we went into this community, and um like I want them to want more eventually.
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They probably won't get it from us, but they should still be aspiring towards that.
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Reshmi's team chose Namzama because they've been looking for a community that seemed safe and open to change.
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They were already quite progressive, they were already quite organized, they seemed to really care about the community itself and the fact that it seemed like a a peaceful community coexisting.
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To fund the solar project, Green Cape raised money from a few foreign embassies, including Denmark, New Zealand, and France.
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Then Green Cape selected PECO Power to build the solar kits and the streetlights.
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GreenCape says all along the way, the people in Num Zamu were involved.
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For me, the main indicator of our success is that I haven't had to chase anyone for this.
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But they have really been coming together as active citizens.
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That's the ultimate goal here.
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Reshmi says the project has met a lot of residents' power needs.
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Plus, it's provided jobs, even if it's nowhere near the amount being lost in the larger shift away from coal.
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The thing is, when Green Cape asked people living in Num Zamu to dream about life with solar, they imagined having enough power to support Wi-Fi hotspots, washing machines, even televisions.
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But for Ayanda and others, this was more than a dream.
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It was a promise that was broken.
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Why didn't they do what they've promised from the onset?
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What changed?
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What made them change without letting their community know?
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Rishmi gets that there's a gap between what people wanted and the available funds.
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She says better communication in the future might help.
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But another problem that was much harder to predict came up.
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We are back with Maria Mayaba, who manages a communal freezer.
00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:42.740
When she agreed to store people's food, Green Cape told her she'd earn around 30 Rand a month.
00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:48.420
About$2 from each neighbor, an amount she's supposed to charge to make it worth her while.
00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:55.620
Out of 20 people, only three people paid 30 Rand for the past two, three weeks.
00:21:55.700 --> 00:22:02.100
And everybody else that comes and wants to leave their food here, she lets them because she feels it belongs to the community.
00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:12.100
So Green Cape's Push for Solar gets kind of a mixed report card from people in Nomsam.
00:22:12.420 --> 00:22:17.539
Yes, some things are better, but they didn't get everything they wanted or thought they would.
00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:24.980
This kind of community co-design is very new.
00:22:25.860 --> 00:22:30.340
Tracy Ledger is part of the Public Affairs Research Institute in Johannesburg.
00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:32.900
Her work focuses on the just transition.
00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:38.900
Normally what happens is somebody else designs the solution and simply comes and imposes it in the community.
00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:46.420
So Tracy applauds Green Cape's efforts to work with the people in Num Zamu, and she gets why some people feel the effort falls short.
00:22:46.820 --> 00:22:59.940
The question is whether or not you're doing a better job than the alternative processes of Design rather than saying, well, if you didn't have a perfect solution and everybody isn't happy, then it hasn't worked.
00:23:00.100 --> 00:23:01.299
It's a learning curve.
00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:06.019
Tracy's research focuses on how much energy people really need.
00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:08.100
Take the freezers, for example.
00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:12.580
It saves them a lot of money, but requires a lot of power.
00:23:12.820 --> 00:23:22.900
And as South Africa moves away from coal, Tracy wants the government to treat access to energy as a fundamental human need, like shelter or food.
00:23:23.299 --> 00:23:26.420
Electricity competes with food.
00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:33.940
The research shows that quite clearly, that the main item that households will cut back on to buy electricity is food.
00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:43.220
So we shouldn't think that it's a good thing that households are willing to compromise their food security status to pay for electricity.
00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:49.779
Tracy's organization wants the government to provide enough electricity to meet basic needs.
00:23:50.019 --> 00:23:53.380
That's about 35 times what a PECO starter kit provides.
00:23:54.019 --> 00:23:56.980
It's a fallacy that poor people don't want to pay for things.
00:23:57.140 --> 00:24:00.660
I mean, even when people have illegal connections, that's not free electricity.
00:24:00.820 --> 00:24:03.140
You pay a lot of money for an illegal connection.
00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:08.420
Tracy says Green Cape's project in Nomzama gets more right than wrong.
00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:10.740
And so it's fine that it's not perfect.
00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:18.500
What I'm saying is that we need to guard against the temptation to think that this is the solution.
00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:22.660
That if we've done this, that there is no more problem.
00:24:23.140 --> 00:24:24.740
That is my main issue.
00:24:24.820 --> 00:24:26.420
It's not to criticize the project.
00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:30.820
I think the project's great and it's obviously got benefits for the local community.
00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:40.820
My question is that we do not look at this as a final solution and that say that in Nomzamo there is now no problem.
00:24:54.980 --> 00:25:02.340
This community that is trying to get even a little bit of electricity is so close to some of the largest coal mines in the country.
00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:05.940
The N17 highway runs right past Numzamu.
00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:09.779
Specificly sees hundreds of coal trucks pass by each day.
00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:16.420
Every day, every day, what I see in this road N17 attracts coal trucks, yeah.
00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:17.299
Yeah.
00:25:18.100 --> 00:25:20.660
Going up and down, you know.
00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:27.700
Those trucks are the old economy, the coal economy that built this region.
00:25:28.340 --> 00:25:31.380
But it also left places like Nom Zamo behind.
00:25:31.620 --> 00:25:34.980
The solar project here isn't going to stop those trucks.
00:25:35.220 --> 00:25:42.340
Five PECO Champion jobs won't replace the thousands of coal jobs that will disappear as South Africa transitions to renewable energy.
00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:45.779
But it's done a lot for Spessische and his community.
00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:48.980
It's given him skills and a steady income.
00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:05.299
But right now, he's looking for work.
00:26:05.539 --> 00:26:08.180
His job as a PECO champion is almost done.
00:26:08.420 --> 00:26:12.100
He installed solar power for everyone who wanted it in Nom Zamu.
00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:15.539
Now he's busy collecting monthly rent from his clients.
00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:23.380
But he hopes he and the other PECO champions will be able to start their own businesses to sell solar to other communities like Nomzamu.
00:26:23.700 --> 00:26:29.059
So as for now, like I'm seeing an opportunity in solar.
00:26:30.019 --> 00:26:47.380
So I think maybe in 10 years from now, I'll be running my solar campaign for young people like Space She, his sister Ronal, and me, growing up in coal towns where everything is changing.
00:26:47.539 --> 00:26:50.500
We have to grab whatever opportunity we can find.
00:26:55.620 --> 00:26:56.259
Yeah.
00:26:56.580 --> 00:26:59.779
Even if moving out of my comfort zone, I will move.
00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:06.420
Runal is describing the hustle to find stability.
00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:09.460
That's the reality for most young people here.
00:27:09.779 --> 00:27:17.059
Renewable energy won't create the perfect job, but it is opening up doors to possibilities that weren't there before.
00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:22.500
Everyone, when you talk about the ecosystem, the first person they approach it specifically.
00:27:22.740 --> 00:27:26.259
Because they know that he will treat them with the utmost respect.
00:27:26.740 --> 00:27:27.700
I'm proud of you.
00:27:27.860 --> 00:27:28.180
Yeah.
00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:34.259
I love you and I respect you.
00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:35.220
Quick time.
00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:40.100
It makes me feel very important because she never told me that.
00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:45.460
It's my first time hearing that she's proud of me.
00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:49.940
Spicy shares all smiles reacting to Ronaldo's pride.
00:27:50.180 --> 00:27:53.059
It's big for both of them.
00:27:54.660 --> 00:28:00.019
And whatever happens next, Spicy shares someone who electrified his community.
00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:03.700
It's a story he can tell for the rest of his life.
00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:16.900
This story was reported by Siamugwena and Darcin Moodli.
00:28:17.380 --> 00:28:20.820
Production assistance from Mo Isu and Malvin Shabangu.
00:28:21.220 --> 00:28:30.980
Thanks to Kutala Environmental Care Group, Green Cape, Pico Power, VOCFM and Urmalo, and residents of Nomzamo for their support.
00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:41.460
This episode was edited by me, Liserimukwa, with help from Kerry Donahue, who provided mentorship and editorial support to our team.
00:28:41.779 --> 00:28:46.580
Original music by Pamani Sambo and edible audio in Cape Town.
00:28:46.820 --> 00:28:50.259
Sound engineering by Joe Jackson and Mike Reyfeld.
00:28:51.380 --> 00:28:53.700
Joe Jackson is our managing producer.
00:28:53.860 --> 00:29:00.420
Clemence Petit Perrault is our impact producer with support from impact strategist Andy Jones.
00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:03.220
Mike Reyfeld is our executive producer.
00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:06.740
Vuyo Litzeke is our executive director.
00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:19.700
This episode and the work of Radio Workshop would not be possible without support from the Doc Society, the UMI Fund, the African Climate Foundation, and the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.
00:29:20.340 --> 00:29:26.900
A special thanks to Context News at the Thomson Reuters Foundation for collaborating with us on the story.
00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:32.019
You can find a link to their story with our background research in our show notes.
00:29:32.340 --> 00:29:39.860
Special thanks to Rob Byers and to Hindenburg for supporting our projects across Africa with audio editing software.
00:29:40.180 --> 00:29:43.059
We can only do this work because of your support.
00:29:43.220 --> 00:29:47.059
You can make a donation at radioworkshop.org.
00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:26.059
Did you make any installations on the street?
00:00:26.299 --> 00:00:27.579
Yes, I have.
00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:28.459
Okay.
00:00:29.339 --> 00:00:29.899
This wasn't.
00:00:31.659 --> 00:00:33.500
Hey, I'm CMO Kwena.
00:00:33.739 --> 00:00:35.179
And I'm working in Nomsam.
00:00:35.979 --> 00:00:41.659
It's an informal settlement just a few hours northeast of Johannesburg, right in the heartland of coal.
00:00:42.379 --> 00:00:43.820
But today is all about solar.
00:00:44.060 --> 00:00:45.899
We're working to A21.
00:00:46.060 --> 00:00:47.979
We're going to do the installation.
00:00:48.219 --> 00:00:49.340
We're doing the installation now.
00:00:50.379 --> 00:00:56.619
Timberly Hilukele installed Sola, and today she's taking me to the home of her favorite customer.
00:01:01.179 --> 00:01:03.259
Okay, you guys can come in.
00:01:08.539 --> 00:01:11.659
Tabilem CB's four grandkids are running around her.
00:01:11.819 --> 00:01:15.340
She's in her 60s, and so Timbelise also calls her Goko.
00:01:15.659 --> 00:01:16.379
Or granny.
00:01:16.939 --> 00:01:21.420
Goko's been waiting for weeks for the team to come and install her second solar kit.
00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:27.979
Maranja, every day I call Tembelise, telling me I'm coming, Goko, I'm coming.
00:01:28.300 --> 00:01:28.939
No problem.
00:01:31.740 --> 00:01:33.900
Goko's home is just like her.
00:01:34.219 --> 00:01:36.060
Warm and inviting.
00:01:36.300 --> 00:01:38.139
It's corrugated metal.
00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:43.180
The outside is painted dark red, the window frames are lime green.
00:01:43.419 --> 00:01:45.900
It's one of the nicest houses in Nom Zam.
00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:50.939
Three bedrooms for seven people, separated by lace curtains.
00:01:51.259 --> 00:01:53.740
And then Gogo shows me where she sleeps.
00:01:53.979 --> 00:01:56.139
Put this side to sleep like this.
00:01:57.419 --> 00:01:58.060
Finish.
00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:04.139
When I stepped into Gogo's home, it took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust.
00:02:04.379 --> 00:02:05.659
It's so dark.
00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:10.379
Even though it's bright and sunny outside, her windows don't let that much light in.
00:02:10.620 --> 00:02:16.060
Gogo's kitchen stove runs on wood and coal, so there's black ash everywhere.
00:02:16.300 --> 00:02:19.659
She would love an electric stove, but that's just out of the question.
00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:22.620
Electric stove is too much money.
00:02:33.099 --> 00:02:39.180
Just to light her home at night, she used to spend hundreds of dollars a year to buy candles and paraffin.
00:02:39.420 --> 00:02:43.740
But that changed about a year ago when she got her first solar unit.
00:02:43.900 --> 00:02:46.140
And today she's getting her second.
00:02:53.099 --> 00:02:56.379
Lulama Masego is on top of Goku Tabile's house.
00:02:56.620 --> 00:03:00.219
He's small and thin, which helps when you're balancing on a roof.
00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:03.420
Drill in one hand, solar panel in the other.
00:03:09.180 --> 00:03:13.980
With the panel mounted to the roof, Lulama runs a set of wires to his colleague inside.
00:03:14.140 --> 00:03:16.860
Lindogliemalaza takes it from there.
00:03:17.420 --> 00:03:20.460
He grabs the wire and threads it through Goko's house.
00:03:20.700 --> 00:03:25.180
He attaches it to a couple of lights inside and one right outside the front door.
00:03:25.420 --> 00:03:29.420
He then adds a USB port so that Goko Tabile can charge her phone.
00:03:29.659 --> 00:03:34.219
It took about 30 minutes for the whole installation, and now they are packing up.
00:03:36.060 --> 00:03:37.580
Everything's done now.
00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:40.379
There was no problems at all.
00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:45.099
The team has installed about 400 solar panels in Nom Zamu.
00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:50.140
Lindo Wushe knows his customers are happy to have a reliable and safe source of electricity.
00:03:50.300 --> 00:03:53.180
And he likes having reliable and safe work too.
00:04:00.140 --> 00:04:03.819
Yeah, because I can't expect everything from her.
00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:05.180
Yeah.
00:04:05.980 --> 00:04:10.300
For Lindogu and Timbelishe, their jobs are about more than money.
00:04:10.460 --> 00:04:16.219
They're building their careers in an industry that's supposed to replace coal and reduce carbon emissions.
00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:27.019
In Nomzamu, it's opening up possibilities to make it a better place to live, while also raising questions about the limitations of renewable energy.
00:04:37.979 --> 00:04:43.819
In South Africa, an estimated 1.5 million homes are not connected to a power grid.
00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:51.019
And for those who are connected, about 85% of that electricity comes from coal-fired power plants.
00:04:51.500 --> 00:05:04.859
While the government says it is working to get electricity to more people, Nomzamo, the small community of about 400 households, is testing an alternative to coal, solar power.
00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:13.899
Communities like Namzamu having access to solar is a key part of what South Africa's government has called the just energy transition.
00:05:14.219 --> 00:05:23.259
Simply put, the just energy transition is supposed to make things fair as the country shifts away from coal and towards cleaner power.
00:05:23.579 --> 00:05:27.899
But can renewables create the same opportunities that coal did?
00:05:28.139 --> 00:05:34.459
And how close to a perfect solution is needed to create the fairness promised by this just transition?
00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:40.620
In other words, how much justice in renewable energy is just enough?
00:05:43.179 --> 00:05:49.500
Places like Numzamo were left behind long before anyone started talking about moving away from coal.
00:05:49.739 --> 00:05:52.620
Numzamo is what we call an informal settlement.
00:05:52.779 --> 00:06:04.620
There are a few thousand of these communities in South Africa, and they generally have high rates of poverty, few jobs, and for young people, there's not a lot of hope for the future.
00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:12.219
Even though our reporter Siamugwena knows places like Nomzamo really well, he grew up not too far from there.
00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:19.659
He wanted to visit Nomzamo to get a sense of how renewable energy is changing things, especially for young people like himself.
00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:25.819
So he got Spessile Makakula to show him around.
00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:28.060
Welcome to my community.
00:06:28.139 --> 00:06:29.179
This is Nomzamo.
00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:33.500
So I'm happy to introduce you in everything that is happening here in Nomzamo.
00:06:33.659 --> 00:06:34.699
I'm happy to show you everything.
00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:41.099
Speciale is one of a handful of young people who are selling, installing, and maintaining solar power in this community.
00:06:41.339 --> 00:06:44.779
As we walk, Speciale points out house of the house.
00:06:46.379 --> 00:06:48.379
Everyone in this street is my guy.
00:06:49.099 --> 00:06:52.539
Actually, like every house that you are seeing in this street.
00:06:52.699 --> 00:06:55.899
Yeah, he's like here on my right, it's A323.
00:06:56.299 --> 00:06:59.979
It's also my guy, and it's manga's house.
00:07:00.779 --> 00:07:06.459
Since the project started a year ago, Spaceisha has sold starter solar kits to about half of Nom Zamo.
00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:10.379
That has made him low-key famous among his neighbors.
00:07:10.939 --> 00:07:13.500
He's a charming, smooth-talking salesman.
00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:17.339
The kind of guy who could really sell anything to anyone.
00:07:34.539 --> 00:07:38.459
The solar kits are built by Peko Power, a company based in Johannesburg.
00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:43.099
Peco Power designed the kits to be robust, easy to install, and affordable.
00:07:43.259 --> 00:07:50.459
And they hired Spessische and other young people, calling them Peco Champions, to go door to door and sell the devices.
00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:56.299
It costs 80 Rand a month or about$4, and eventually the renters own the unit.
00:07:56.539 --> 00:08:04.539
Specific's sister Ronaldo says that's a big deal for people living in Nom Zamo, especially when the town's name means struggle or effort.
00:08:11.899 --> 00:08:15.739
So we are used to this thing of fetching water and everything.
00:08:15.979 --> 00:08:17.179
Ronal is 27.
00:08:17.979 --> 00:08:20.139
She has a degree in financial management.
00:08:20.299 --> 00:08:25.579
Her son was born three years ago, around the time she moved to Nomzama with her mother and brother.
00:08:25.819 --> 00:08:28.539
And I was like, oh, this place is so cool.
00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:30.379
Kids playing on the street.
00:08:30.539 --> 00:08:36.299
It's already an environment that have built and it has been a friendly and welcoming environment.
00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:39.340
Nomzamo hasn't been around for a long time.
00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:42.860
The first houses started to go up less than a decade ago.
00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:50.379
We heard that the mayor of the nearby town of Ermalo let some families move on to vacant land after floods left them homeless.
00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:53.899
But the government doesn't provide any services here.
00:08:54.220 --> 00:08:59.100
That means no electricity, no running water, no waste removal.
00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:04.860
Still, some residents found a way to connect their homes to nearby electricity and water.
00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:06.939
None of it is legal.
00:09:07.179 --> 00:09:10.779
Spacile says they've just learned to rely on each other.
00:09:11.100 --> 00:09:12.379
We help each other.
00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:15.980
Anything that is bothering you is bothering me, it's bothering my neighbor.
00:09:16.059 --> 00:09:18.779
We come to Kedah and find a solution.
00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:27.980
Despite being called an informal settlement, Nomzamo is highly organized.
00:09:28.139 --> 00:09:32.059
There's a neighborhood watch, a woman's group, a leadership committee.
00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:36.220
And I don't want to give you the idea that Nomzamo is in the middle of nowhere.
00:09:36.379 --> 00:09:43.259
It's just on the outskirts of Urmelo, a highly developed coal town of more than 150,000 people.
00:09:43.659 --> 00:09:46.539
Urmelo is well lit compared to Nomzamo.
00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:51.819
Specifically says that before solar power, the nights in Nomzamo were tough.
00:09:52.459 --> 00:09:57.340
After seven, it's not easy to walk around Nomsamo because it's too dark.
00:09:57.500 --> 00:09:58.220
It's dark.
00:09:58.459 --> 00:10:02.139
You know, darkness always it brings that fear.
00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:04.379
So it's scary.
00:10:04.939 --> 00:10:06.220
That's all it's scary.
00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:09.819
At seven o'clock, you will see no one on the street.
00:10:15.500 --> 00:10:20.779
It's much better than candlelight, brighter and safer, and of course cheaper too.
00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:26.459
They were spending two to three times more on candles than on the monthly rental of a solar kit.
00:10:26.860 --> 00:10:32.459
And on the streets of Nom Zamo, the solar lighting is achieving something really amazing.
00:10:33.259 --> 00:10:37.819
So my producer Dash and Moodley and I came back to see it for ourselves.
00:10:51.980 --> 00:10:54.139
So we're getting outside of the car.
00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:57.500
We just arrived in Namzamo again for the second time today.
00:10:58.139 --> 00:10:59.259
Hello, hello.
00:11:00.220 --> 00:11:00.779
Hello.
00:11:02.379 --> 00:11:05.100
Before solar power, it was pitch black here.
00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:08.299
You wouldn't even be able to see your own feet.
00:11:08.539 --> 00:11:13.419
People were worried about falling and hurting themselves or getting hurt by someone else.
00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:15.259
It was very scary.
00:11:15.819 --> 00:11:23.340
But a year ago, the Peko Champions installed 60 double lamp streetlights, and as we're driving, I can see the difference.
00:11:23.579 --> 00:11:28.620
The areas with the street lamps are bright and it feels safe.
00:11:28.939 --> 00:11:32.699
And that it showed that we are developing as a community.
00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:36.059
That's Fiso Slachwayu.
00:11:36.139 --> 00:11:39.899
He lives in Nom Zamua and works for Kutala Environmental Care Group.
00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:44.620
It's a local nonprofit that educates residents about how coal harms their health.
00:11:44.860 --> 00:11:49.019
He says that nowadays there's only one word to describe Nomzamu at night.
00:11:49.259 --> 00:11:50.299
Oh, beautiful.
00:11:50.699 --> 00:11:52.860
That's where you see the solar is working.
00:11:52.939 --> 00:11:57.899
Oh, the solar, everyone talks about we need the solar, we need the it's beautiful.
00:11:58.459 --> 00:12:03.980
Because when there is no electricity around ML, Numzam is the one with the light.
00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:08.860
Suizo is talking about a time recently when the town next door lost power.
00:12:09.340 --> 00:12:13.740
It was due to a planned power cut or what's called load shading in South Africa.
00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:16.220
Power outages are now a part of life.
00:12:16.379 --> 00:12:20.459
But when Ermelo went dark, the lights in Nom Zam are stayed on.
00:12:20.860 --> 00:12:24.299
When there's the low shading, they said, Oh, we're going to Santin now.
00:12:25.579 --> 00:12:27.100
Just call the Ed Num Zam.
00:12:27.259 --> 00:12:28.220
It's electricity.
00:12:28.939 --> 00:12:32.459
Swiss was saying his neighbors bragged about how they were living large.
00:12:32.699 --> 00:12:36.939
Like they were in Santin, the famously wealthy suburb in Johannesburg.
00:12:37.259 --> 00:12:38.860
It's like they are they are proud.
00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:40.779
They are proud to be at Numzhal.
00:12:41.740 --> 00:12:48.379
And yeah, for young people like Space Yeah and his sister Ronal, the street lights make life easier.
00:12:48.539 --> 00:13:23.059
But when solo was first talked about, it wasn't the first thing on their list.
00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:25.939
I would love to evolve around the cell phone.
00:13:26.419 --> 00:13:30.179
Without a cell phone, yo, it's like your your mind is not working, man.
00:13:30.259 --> 00:13:37.219
Like if if you don't have a cell phone, like you can see, yes, my cell phone, but it doesn't have a page.
00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:39.699
It's like you are off of this world.
00:13:39.859 --> 00:13:42.259
You know, like everything is shut down.
00:13:53.539 --> 00:13:59.619
I mean, we all know that feeling when our phone dies, and imagine if there's just no place to plug it in.
00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:03.699
For me, that's a feeling that really hits close to home.
00:14:04.019 --> 00:14:08.899
There was once a time when I was growing up that my family lived in a community just like Namzamu.
00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:13.059
It's a few hours away from here, near another mining town.
00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:20.179
We didn't really have electricity either, so when my phone battery hit 1%, I had to pay someone to charge it for me.
00:14:20.739 --> 00:14:24.099
At some point, my dad got me a cheap solar-powered charger.
00:14:24.259 --> 00:14:27.859
I hung the solar panel from my window, but it didn't really work.
00:14:28.419 --> 00:14:31.619
I even remember a day when my dad asked me to come outside.
00:14:31.779 --> 00:14:32.739
He needed help.
00:14:32.819 --> 00:14:39.379
He was digging a trench with a couple of neighbors so that they could bury a power cable running from the local shop to our homes.
00:14:39.699 --> 00:14:44.099
It wasn't exactly legal, but it was the only way we could get electricity.
00:14:44.419 --> 00:14:47.699
And people in Nomsam have been doing the same thing.
00:14:48.419 --> 00:14:53.299
When it's raining, you know that these wires will be out of the ground.
00:14:53.459 --> 00:14:56.019
What will happen to the kids going to school?
00:14:56.739 --> 00:15:02.099
It's not reliable because anytime the municipality can come and decide to cut it off.
00:15:02.579 --> 00:15:05.779
And then you won't be having power at that moment.
00:15:06.259 --> 00:15:06.739
You know.
00:15:06.979 --> 00:15:12.419
But if you are having vehicle, you will be able to have light, you will be able to charge your phone.
00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:17.379
Yeah, so we bet should we come in?
00:15:17.859 --> 00:15:18.179
Okay.
00:15:19.619 --> 00:15:24.739
But for other families, getting some electricity from solar is not enough.
00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:27.299
It's only lighting and charging.
00:15:27.939 --> 00:15:31.059
Ianda was one of the first people to move into Nom Zam.
00:15:31.619 --> 00:15:35.379
I see you have a fridge here, then how do you use your fridge?
00:15:35.859 --> 00:15:37.859
Illegal connection, to be honest.
00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:41.939
Aanda is not her real name.
00:15:42.099 --> 00:15:47.939
She asked us to call her that because, like a lot of her neighbors, she's still connected to illegal electricity.
00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:54.179
I've talked to the neighbors that had already had their illegal connections.
00:15:54.339 --> 00:15:59.779
Then they connected to me and then I took the cable to the house.
00:16:11.459 --> 00:16:21.299
And while PECO sells much more expensive units that can power a fridge or a TV, it's hard to compete with the mostly free cost of an illegal hookup.
00:16:21.459 --> 00:16:26.579
Especially when it provides enough power to meet one of the biggest needs, which is storing food.
00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:36.099
You're about to go in and see the refrigerator.
00:16:36.499 --> 00:16:39.219
That's basically again the Peko Champion.
00:16:39.459 --> 00:16:43.299
He unlocks and opens the door to a corrugated metal shelter.
00:16:43.619 --> 00:16:46.899
We are inside now and then we are opening the fridge.
00:16:47.219 --> 00:16:50.259
The fridge inside is a chest freezer.
00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:58.579
It's one of the 10 communal freezers spread across Nomsam, all powered by larger solar units and shared by dozens of nearby residents.
00:16:58.819 --> 00:17:05.059
The freezers are here because so many people couldn't afford to buy food in bulk without a way to keep it fresh.
00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:15.220
Many residents said they spent up to half their income on food, and so Maria Mayaba agreed to keep a communal freezer on her property for her neighbors to store their food.
00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:50.180
She said she's available anytime for the community.
00:17:50.339 --> 00:17:54.900
So even if people can call at 10 pm, she wakes up to make sure that the meat is out.
00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:05.620
Okay, it's about uh four packages, yeah.
00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:09.059
Yeah, and then that's it.
00:18:10.019 --> 00:18:15.299
But Ayanda, who relies on illegal electricity, says some people didn't want a communal fridge.
00:18:15.460 --> 00:18:22.420
What they wanted and thought they were going to get was enough electricity to run their own refrigerators in their own houses.
00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:28.259
There are expectations.
00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:49.380
So when time goes on, I became very disappointed at the project.
00:18:51.140 --> 00:18:55.299
So part of her disappointment goes back to how the project got started.
00:18:55.539 --> 00:19:04.420
Before the people living in Num Zamor had access to solar, they were invited to dream big about things way beyond what a small solar unit could provide.
00:19:04.820 --> 00:19:13.059
When they are going to implement this project somewhere else, they have to introduce a better system, not this one.
00:19:16.019 --> 00:19:18.580
Green Cape is a non-profit in Cape Town.
00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:21.620
The ones behind the efforts to bring solar to Namzam.
00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:24.660
People have aspirations and people want more things.
00:19:24.980 --> 00:19:28.259
Rishmi Walvers leads Green Cape's solar project in Namzam.
00:19:28.500 --> 00:19:29.779
They should want more things.
00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:31.940
Um that's not the problem.
00:19:32.180 --> 00:19:42.420
Um they didn't have anything before we went into this community, and um like I want them to want more eventually.
00:19:42.580 --> 00:19:46.980
They probably won't get it from us, but they should still be aspiring towards that.
00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:53.460
Reshmi's team chose Namzama because they've been looking for a community that seemed safe and open to change.
00:19:53.860 --> 00:20:07.940
They were already quite progressive, they were already quite organized, they seemed to really care about the community itself and the fact that it seemed like a a peaceful community coexisting.
00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:15.860
To fund the solar project, Green Cape raised money from a few foreign embassies, including Denmark, New Zealand, and France.
00:20:16.100 --> 00:20:20.420
Then Green Cape selected PECO Power to build the solar kits and the streetlights.
00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:24.900
GreenCape says all along the way, the people in Num Zamu were involved.
00:20:25.460 --> 00:20:31.380
For me, the main indicator of our success is that I haven't had to chase anyone for this.
00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:35.940
But they have really been coming together as active citizens.
00:20:36.180 --> 00:20:37.620
That's the ultimate goal here.
00:20:38.100 --> 00:20:41.700
Reshmi says the project has met a lot of residents' power needs.
00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:48.500
Plus, it's provided jobs, even if it's nowhere near the amount being lost in the larger shift away from coal.
00:20:48.820 --> 00:21:00.580
The thing is, when Green Cape asked people living in Num Zamu to dream about life with solar, they imagined having enough power to support Wi-Fi hotspots, washing machines, even televisions.
00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:04.660
But for Ayanda and others, this was more than a dream.
00:21:04.820 --> 00:21:07.460
It was a promise that was broken.
00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:12.900
Why didn't they do what they've promised from the onset?
00:21:13.539 --> 00:21:14.740
What changed?
00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:18.820
What made them change without letting their community know?
00:21:19.860 --> 00:21:24.500
Rishmi gets that there's a gap between what people wanted and the available funds.
00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:27.539
She says better communication in the future might help.
00:21:27.779 --> 00:21:31.620
But another problem that was much harder to predict came up.
00:21:33.460 --> 00:21:37.299
We are back with Maria Mayaba, who manages a communal freezer.
00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:42.740
When she agreed to store people's food, Green Cape told her she'd earn around 30 Rand a month.
00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:48.420
About$2 from each neighbor, an amount she's supposed to charge to make it worth her while.
00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:55.620
Out of 20 people, only three people paid 30 Rand for the past two, three weeks.
00:21:55.700 --> 00:22:02.100
And everybody else that comes and wants to leave their food here, she lets them because she feels it belongs to the community.
00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:12.100
So Green Cape's Push for Solar gets kind of a mixed report card from people in Nomsam.
00:22:12.420 --> 00:22:17.539
Yes, some things are better, but they didn't get everything they wanted or thought they would.
00:22:21.299 --> 00:22:24.980
This kind of community co-design is very new.
00:22:25.860 --> 00:22:30.340
Tracy Ledger is part of the Public Affairs Research Institute in Johannesburg.
00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:32.900
Her work focuses on the just transition.
00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:38.900
Normally what happens is somebody else designs the solution and simply comes and imposes it in the community.
00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:46.420
So Tracy applauds Green Cape's efforts to work with the people in Num Zamu, and she gets why some people feel the effort falls short.
00:22:46.820 --> 00:22:59.940
The question is whether or not you're doing a better job than the alternative processes of Design rather than saying, well, if you didn't have a perfect solution and everybody isn't happy, then it hasn't worked.
00:23:00.100 --> 00:23:01.299
It's a learning curve.
00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:06.019
Tracy's research focuses on how much energy people really need.
00:23:06.259 --> 00:23:08.100
Take the freezers, for example.
00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:12.580
It saves them a lot of money, but requires a lot of power.
00:23:12.820 --> 00:23:22.900
And as South Africa moves away from coal, Tracy wants the government to treat access to energy as a fundamental human need, like shelter or food.
00:23:23.299 --> 00:23:26.420
Electricity competes with food.
00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:33.940
The research shows that quite clearly, that the main item that households will cut back on to buy electricity is food.
00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:43.220
So we shouldn't think that it's a good thing that households are willing to compromise their food security status to pay for electricity.
00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:49.779
Tracy's organization wants the government to provide enough electricity to meet basic needs.
00:23:50.019 --> 00:23:53.380
That's about 35 times what a PECO starter kit provides.
00:23:54.019 --> 00:23:56.980
It's a fallacy that poor people don't want to pay for things.
00:23:57.140 --> 00:24:00.660
I mean, even when people have illegal connections, that's not free electricity.
00:24:00.820 --> 00:24:03.140
You pay a lot of money for an illegal connection.
00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:08.420
Tracy says Green Cape's project in Nomzama gets more right than wrong.
00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:10.740
And so it's fine that it's not perfect.
00:24:11.140 --> 00:24:18.500
What I'm saying is that we need to guard against the temptation to think that this is the solution.
00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:22.660
That if we've done this, that there is no more problem.
00:24:23.140 --> 00:24:24.740
That is my main issue.
00:24:24.820 --> 00:24:26.420
It's not to criticize the project.
00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:30.820
I think the project's great and it's obviously got benefits for the local community.
00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:40.820
My question is that we do not look at this as a final solution and that say that in Nomzamo there is now no problem.
00:24:54.980 --> 00:25:02.340
This community that is trying to get even a little bit of electricity is so close to some of the largest coal mines in the country.
00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:05.940
The N17 highway runs right past Numzamu.
00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:09.779
Specificly sees hundreds of coal trucks pass by each day.
00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:16.420
Every day, every day, what I see in this road N17 attracts coal trucks, yeah.
00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:17.299
Yeah.
00:25:18.100 --> 00:25:20.660
Going up and down, you know.
00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:27.700
Those trucks are the old economy, the coal economy that built this region.
00:25:28.340 --> 00:25:31.380
But it also left places like Nom Zamo behind.
00:25:31.620 --> 00:25:34.980
The solar project here isn't going to stop those trucks.
00:25:35.220 --> 00:25:42.340
Five PECO Champion jobs won't replace the thousands of coal jobs that will disappear as South Africa transitions to renewable energy.
00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:45.779
But it's done a lot for Spessische and his community.
00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:48.980
It's given him skills and a steady income.
00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:05.299
But right now, he's looking for work.
00:26:05.539 --> 00:26:08.180
His job as a PECO champion is almost done.
00:26:08.420 --> 00:26:12.100
He installed solar power for everyone who wanted it in Nom Zamu.
00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:15.539
Now he's busy collecting monthly rent from his clients.
00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:23.380
But he hopes he and the other PECO champions will be able to start their own businesses to sell solar to other communities like Nomzamu.
00:26:23.700 --> 00:26:29.059
So as for now, like I'm seeing an opportunity in solar.
00:26:30.019 --> 00:26:47.380
So I think maybe in 10 years from now, I'll be running my solar campaign for young people like Space She, his sister Ronal, and me, growing up in coal towns where everything is changing.
00:26:47.539 --> 00:26:50.500
We have to grab whatever opportunity we can find.
00:26:55.620 --> 00:26:56.259
Yeah.
00:26:56.580 --> 00:26:59.779
Even if moving out of my comfort zone, I will move.
00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:06.420
Runal is describing the hustle to find stability.
00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:09.460
That's the reality for most young people here.
00:27:09.779 --> 00:27:17.059
Renewable energy won't create the perfect job, but it is opening up doors to possibilities that weren't there before.
00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:22.500
Everyone, when you talk about the ecosystem, the first person they approach it specifically.
00:27:22.740 --> 00:27:26.259
Because they know that he will treat them with the utmost respect.
00:27:26.740 --> 00:27:27.700
I'm proud of you.
00:27:27.860 --> 00:27:28.180
Yeah.
00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:34.259
I love you and I respect you.
00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:35.220
Quick time.
00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:40.100
It makes me feel very important because she never told me that.
00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:45.460
It's my first time hearing that she's proud of me.
00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:49.940
Spicy shares all smiles reacting to Ronaldo's pride.
00:27:50.180 --> 00:27:53.059
It's big for both of them.
00:27:54.660 --> 00:28:00.019
And whatever happens next, Spicy shares someone who electrified his community.
00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:03.700
It's a story he can tell for the rest of his life.
00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:16.900
This story was reported by Siamugwena and Darcin Moodli.
00:28:17.380 --> 00:28:20.820
Production assistance from Mo Isu and Malvin Shabangu.
00:28:21.220 --> 00:28:30.980
Thanks to Kutala Environmental Care Group, Green Cape, Pico Power, VOCFM and Urmalo, and residents of Nomzamo for their support.
00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:41.460
This episode was edited by me, Liserimukwa, with help from Kerry Donahue, who provided mentorship and editorial support to our team.
00:28:41.779 --> 00:28:46.580
Original music by Pamani Sambo and edible audio in Cape Town.
00:28:46.820 --> 00:28:50.259
Sound engineering by Joe Jackson and Mike Reyfeld.
00:28:51.380 --> 00:28:53.700
Joe Jackson is our managing producer.
00:28:53.860 --> 00:29:00.420
Clemence Petit Perrault is our impact producer with support from impact strategist Andy Jones.
00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:03.220
Mike Reyfeld is our executive producer.
00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:06.740
Vuyo Litzeke is our executive director.
00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:19.700
This episode and the work of Radio Workshop would not be possible without support from the Doc Society, the UMI Fund, the African Climate Foundation, and the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.
00:29:20.340 --> 00:29:26.900
A special thanks to Context News at the Thomson Reuters Foundation for collaborating with us on the story.
00:29:27.140 --> 00:29:32.019
You can find a link to their story with our background research in our show notes.
00:29:32.340 --> 00:29:39.860
Special thanks to Rob Byers and to Hindenburg for supporting our projects across Africa with audio editing software.
00:29:40.180 --> 00:29:43.059
We can only do this work because of your support.
00:29:43.220 --> 00:29:47.059
You can make a donation at radioworkshop.org.
