Global Lean Competition 2021

Mandisa Mtimkulu – 24 August 2021

Enactus, a non-profit organisation, was founded in 1975 in the United State of America and its operating in more than 1600 university campuses in 33 countries. This organisation generates economic opportunities in its communities by arranging educational outreach projects.

Enactus South Africa has enlarged to 25 higher institutions to take advantage of this development programme as an aid to offer work integrated learning opportunities to students. The programme brings together students, academics and business leaders who pledge to use their power of entrepreneurial skills to refine the quality of life. Student leaders of Enactus, guided by academic advisors, creates and implements community empowerment projects around the globe.  Furthermore, it helps students develop the kind of talent and perspective that is necessary in leadership.

The Enactus-General Electric (GE) Global Lean Challenge (GLC) is a unique project-based learning opportunity, where students master the design of thinking and engaging with local GE plants to identify, innovative solutions to pre-identified problem statements. With fifty students participating from each country, thirty students were selected to participate in South Africa, of which eleven are from the Vaal University of Technology’s Faculty of Engineering & Technology.

General Electric has been operating in South Africa since 1898. Today GE celebrates 120 years in the African market, with South Africa being the first overseas office outside the USA which opened in Johannesburg. GE South Africa has donated and fully furnished the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital with healthcare equipment.

The program will have a total of five teams, each team consisting of six students and GE Lean Team members respectively. The GE Lean Team will share their climate change project idea/problem statement with all five teams and have power station plant tours/meetups to understand the challenges, scheduled for Thursday, 19 August 2021.

Students who wish to be exposed to such opportunities can affiliate with the Enactus-VUT team, please contact:

Ms Onica Matsheke on

Tel: 016 9509567

Cell: 0829041432/0726318956

email: onica@vut.ac.za