The City of Cape Town was named top municipality in the African Utility Week Awards that were held on Tuesday evening at the CTICC in Cape Town. The continent's utility and energy professionals and projects were honoured and successes in the industry throughout 2013 were celebrated.
More than 5 000 power and water professionals have gathered for the 14th annual African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa conference and expo during which the focus is on energy and water efficiency, back-up electricity supply, clean energy solutions and pan-African co-operation.
"We're absolutely delighted," said Gisela Kaiser, the City of Cape Town's executive director for Utility Services after receiving the award for top municipality.
"This is thanks to thousands of dedicated and disciplined staff and fearless leadership who only expect the best from us."
"We're so proud to have the City of Cape Town as the official host city to our event as Cape Town is a city that is serious about service delivery and planning. The City of Cape Town's infrastructure planning for short-term, medium-term and long-term is at the highest level, said Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl,African Utility Week's programme director.
The other finalists in this category were the eThekwini, Durban and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipalities.
Dr Steve Lennon, group executive: sustainability at Eskom, walked away with a lifetime achievement. He has been with Eskom for more than 30 years and is widely recognised locally and internationally for leadership in areas such as technological innovation and R&D, sustainability management and the triple bottom line, southern African and global energy sector trends and policy, climate change policy and strategy, renewable energy including project development and funding and establishing partnerships and networks including investor relationships.
"It is an absolute inspiration to be given this award at a time in the power sector when we are on the brink of a major change and development. With over half a trillion rands worth of investment coming into our sector from the public and private sector over the next five years, with unprecedented rollouts and new technologies, including low carbon technologies, with massive developments in the region both in terms of transmission infrastructure as well as generation projects, things are really happening in our region," said Lennon.
The other finalists were former Eskom CE Brian Dames, Hermann Joseph, Deputy GM, Central Water Authority, Mauritius and Silver Mugisha, MD, National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Uganda
The global metering giant Itron won top honours for Community Project for its Water PlayPump Programme at the Relekile Primary School in Kuruman, SA, a very dry and arid area of the Kalahari Desert. The PlayPump was built as part of an innovative collaboration with local utility Ga-Segonyana local Municipality. As the children play, the merry-go-round's motion powers the pump, which draws clean water into a 2 500 litre storage tank for drinking, washing, cleaning and watering the school's vegetable garden.
"I feel very humbled and the project has been a great privilege. The school children are worth every cent of the investment we made. This project is of special significance because it is inspired by the play of children - the pump only works if the children play on it," said Yolanda Gossel, Itron's corporate social responsibility specialist, Africa.
Finalists in this category were: Rays of Hope and First Solar, the Electrical Engineering Training Programme and the University of Johannesburg.
The other winners at the African Utility Week Awards were:
Category: African Collaboration
Winner: Southern African Power Pool
Category: Energy/Water Efficiency
Winner: City Power Solar Water Geyser Project in Johannesburg.
Category: Clean Energy Project
Winner: The Makeni Project in Sierra Leone.
Category: African Power Utility
Winner: Genesis Electricity Limited.
Category: African Utility Executive
Winner:Cyprian Chitundu, MD, ZESCO, Zambia
Category: African Water Utility
Winner: National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Uganda.
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