2020

Dear DBREV community,

It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce that Sakhil’umuzi Ngcongwane has been awarded the 2020 DBREV scholarship to further his studies in Renewable Energy. This year there were 60 applications – our highest yet – and the competition was extremely tough. For the first time we asked long-listed candidates to submit a short video clip motivating their candidacy for the award, after which a shortlist of 4 people were interviewed. We were impressed by the number of applicants showing passion and tenacity in their desire to make an impact on energy in Africa. While it is just not possible for us to support more than one scholar every year, we would like to wish all of you who put time and effort into your applications the very best and would urge you to stay in touch and remain part of the DBREV community as we seek to build intellectual capital in a vital area of our society.

Sakhil’umuzi has been accepted by Wits to study towards a Master of Management in Energy Leadership with the intention to focus on the financing of renewable energy for peri-urban micro-enterprises. This will be a natural extension of his studies into the use of solar PV for container-based micro enterprises in the township of Phumula in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.  His intention is focus on energy access for the poor in peri-urban settings, where they are sandwiched in an inconvenient middle – enjoying close proximity to the large-scale grid infrastructure but being too poor to afford the cost of grid independence and too informal to access reasonable financing that would enable them to adopt renewable energy for commercial purposes in the township. He has had the intention to enrol in a Masters programme since completing his Honours degree and has been accepted on two occasions (MEng at Stellenbosch University in 2017 and MM at Wits Business School in 2018) however due to financial constraints he could not pursue either of these. We hope that the DBREV Scholarship will afford him the opportunity to fulfil his study goals and equip himself to make an impact on the energy sector.

Educated at Bishop Bavin school in Gauteng, Muzi achieved half colours for both soccer and swimming before going on to obtain his BSc (Hons) in Energy Studies from the University of Johannesburg.

Congrats Sakhil’umuzi, we look forward to walking alongside you as best we can over the next few years!