Multiple awards for Enactus VUT at South Africa National Championships

ENACTUS VUT walked away with various awards under the category “Thematic & Special Awards”, placing fifth in the overall competition.

Thabiso Sechele

Students and academics from participating universities across the country were geared up and ready to present their award winning projects at the Enactus South Africa National Competition held at the Sandton Convention Centre on Tuesday,11 and Wednesday,12 July 2017.

19 teams took part in this year’s championship, themed “We all Win”. All teams were competing for the 2017 national championship title which would accord them an opportunity to compete against National Champion Teams from other 36 Enactus countries, at the main event which will be held during the month of September 2017, in London, England.

Different teams presented their projects aimed at contributing towards: a sustainable economy; driving environmental change and impacting the lives of ordinary community members. Enactus Vaal University of Technology team, focused their strengths and thought on combining the use of technology and agriculture. They called this innovative approach, “new age” farming.

Enactus VUT presented their Communal Property Association (CPA) project which took them to the semi finals of the competition. This project is split into three parts namely; Project Bantu Bonke, a hydroponic farm in Suikerbos which they assisted with team dynamics, marketing and bookkeeping skills to ensure that thr beneficiaries run a successful commercial farm. This project is linked with their Mama V project where access vegetables from the farm preserved and sometimes sold. Project Mama V aims to tackle the global issue of food insecurity through preservation. The assist farmers and entrepreneurs grow their ventures, Enactus VUT came up with project Farm Cove and Genesys where active and start up entrepreneur receive business related entail and advice. This app and website aims to create a world of abundance through business re-education.

Enactus VUT’s hard work earned them awards under the category “Thematic & Special Awards”, which included: the 2016 Ford C3 Building Sustainable Communities Project Partnership Award; 2017 MTN ICT Enactus Challenge; Barloworld Social Innovation Youth Award and Business Solutions for Community Development. The VUT Enactus made it to the semi-finals against Forthare University and University of Venda, and were placed 5th in the overall competition.

The team was happy with their achievement and said it wasn’t necessarily about winning but achieving their objective which is making a positive impact in the lives of South Africans. “Our story is one of growth,” they said. Beyond the experience of the competition, the event creates additional opportunities for these leaders to connect, network and gain exposure.