Matsila Community Solar Energy Project

Solar power brings water to an entire village

The electricity needed to power the boreholes supplying life-giving water to the 10 000 residents of Matsila Village in the Limpopo Province, South Africa, was unreliable, environmentally unsustainable and prohibitively expensive.

Now, thanks to the Matsila Community Solar Energy Project, unreliable water supply no longer presents a stumbling block towards improving the lives of its people. Unveiled, in January 2022, the project was an initiative of the Matsila Community Development Trust, led by Chief Livhuwani Matsila, and funded by Ninety One. Ninety One’s contribution also settled the community’s outstanding debt to Eskom.

Consisting of ten solar plants powering boreholes, the project ensures sustainable water supply for the entire community – not just for domestic consumption but also for the vegetable farming scheme and livestock farming projects in the area, which provide employment to more than 500 families.