Appeal to fund solar street light project
A DURBAN engineering student is raising funds to donate solar street lights for use in the areas most affected in last week’s storm and tornado in oThongathi.
Keyuren Maharaj, 21, a project manager with the MS Foundation of Sustainable Energy (MSFSE), a nonprofit organisation founded in 2022 to address the lack of access to energy in rural areas, said their goal was to raise funds to donate 50 solar street lights for the disaster-hit area.
Last week Maharaj started crowdfunding on Gogetfunding to raise R300 000 to cover the cost of 50 solar street lights and 50 solar flood lights for areas in oThongathi.
Maharaj opened his solar power company Kolar Energy last year and runs the MSFSE alongside it. “I am working closely with the Tongaat Ratepayers
Association (TRA), other local civic organisations, and the eThekwini electricity department to ensure the lights are installed where needed most. “This is an opportunity to raise funds and show the benefits of how this light works,” said Maharaj.
He said the aim was to enhance safety, security and economic development in the area, addressing the issue of failing lighting infrastructure.
Maharaj, a UKZN third-year mechanical engineering student from Glenwood, is working with Lungelo Myeza, 28, a community development professional with expertise in marketing and communication.
Jay Govender, secretary of the TRA, said this initiative would definitely help their community. “The first light will be installed on a street near the home of a widow who has been pleading for three years for street lights. There is no lighting in the area and her home has been burgled.”
Anyone wishing to donate can go onto the crowdfunding page https:// gogetfunding.com/kzn-solar-streetlight-project/ or email Kolar Energy via kodungallurinvt@gmail.com