SA academics beat global rivals to secure coveted win
ONE of the South African academics who jetted off to Denmark last month to compete in the P4G 2023 Summit, continues to dominate the global competition.
P4G involves Partnering for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030.
Mcebo Mathenjwa, one of the participants representing the Sustain-alysts group who won Denmark’s P4G Summit 2023 held in Copenhagen, said: “I am very excited, I am beyond disbelief to have won the P4G Summit Award, which gave us the opportunity to compete in Colombia in September.
“We learnt a lot there, we got to meet other participants from South Korea, Mexico and Kenya – which I think will also help us when competing in Colombia,” said Mathenjwa. He added that the team would never have made it without the support they received throughout their journey.
“The support we have been getting is really unbelievable – it is what brought us here, including our hard work.
“Therefore, I would like to thank everyone who has been supporting us, including our mentor Sibongile Linda Ngcobo, the founder of a non-profit organisation Ilambu Global Sustainable Initiatives and Development, who organised the creative workshop for us before going to Denmark.
“My group members, Hlonipha Ngcobo and Sinethemba Zungu, thank everyone who made this journey possible, we really appreciate it. We will continue working hard, and hopefully we will come back with the win again in Colombia,” he said. Mathenjwa’s group’s innovative idea was how to change people's behaviour towards water justice, coming up with solutions that would educate people on how to use and save water.
They used easily accessible platforms such as Whatsapp to educate people on the importance of water justice.
The other participants were Nkosikhona Mbhele, Hlengiwe Ngubane, Zime Nxumalo, Londiwe Zikhona Ngomane, Sinovuyo Kraai and Siyasanda Xaba from DUT.
The participants will also take part in the next global competition at the P4G Summit, which will be held in Colombia in September.
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