by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – MANY communities in South Africa lack reliable access to technology in spite of digital literacy being a keystone of 21st-century education.
It is against the backdrop of this digital divide that one of Africa’s leading telecommunications companies has become the first major local sponsor to an initiative by a technology firm to create solar-powered centres where communities can access connectivity.
MTN has assumed sponsorship of the new Solar Learning Labs (SLL) project in the Eastern Cape Province.
SLL is the brainchild of Dell Technologies.
TN has come onboard as the connectivity partner for the next 24 months, sponsoring 20GB of data per month to the new SLL in the Zithulele community.
“The future of South Africa is in connecting all her people. We have been chasing that goal since MTN’s early days,” Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi, General Manager of the MTN SA Foundation, said.
She added, “Thanks to the new co-funding model, MTN can engage with this unique project and bring even more positive change to South Africans.”
The SLL project was established in 2011 in South Africa and has delivered containers across the globe.
Most labs (13) are in South Africa.
They are located in Diepsloot, Kensington, Khayelitsha, Manenberg, Nyanga, Rustervaal, Soweto, Tembisa and Waverly.
Natasha Reuben, Head of Transformation, Dell Technologies, said as one of the largest global technology providers, the company had a unique role to play in transforming the future.
She said by establishing partnerships and collaborating with organisations such as MTN, Dell was able to create a more technology-literate society.
“With our new co-funding model, our partners will help us reach our goal of establishing 100 SLLs across the world by 2030,” Reuben stated.
– CAJ News