Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma says the COP17 conference underway in Durban will leave a lasting legacy for the people of South Africa.
In his address during the launch of COP17 Legacy Projects in Groutville just outside Durban, Zuma announced a pilot project that will tackle energy access in rural areas. The project is powering 19 clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, including the clinic in Groutville, with solar water heaters.
In addition to the installation of the solar water heaters at the Groutville clinic, solar water heaters have also been installed at the two primary schools, Dr Vilakazi Primary and Aldinville Primary, as well as boundary lighting at Dr Vilakazi Primary. A selected number of households in close proximity to the clinic are also recipients of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies.
"These households have now received energy efficient cooking stoves, together with solar powered torches, lanterns and energy efficient indoor lighting.
"The impact of this intervention will be the reduced use of carbon-intensive electricity from the grid as well as reduced timber and coal for heating and cooking," said Zuma.
One of South Africa's major challenges for poverty eradication, particularly in the rural communities, is access to electricity.
People have to burn wood and coal to get some sort of energy, which causes health-related problems such as pneumonia and asthma. Economically, collecting wood and the costs of achieving energy security can be expensive, while the environment is suffering due to deforestation and local air pollution being the typical outcomes of reliance on natural and fossil fuels for energy.
The President hoped that the project will scale up the use of solar-powered energy while easing the burden on communities.
"The interventions announced today will ease energy poverty while addressing the country's development goals without compromising the environment," said Zuma.
He said the people of Groutville and surroundings will always remember COP17 as the UN climate change conference that brought a difference to their lives in practical terms.
