Vision, Mission & Aims
Platinum
6 projects awarded Platinum in 2010
SOHCO Amalinda Village
SOHCO is a Social Housing Institution, aiming to build lower-income housing, for those who earn between R2500 and R7500 a month. SOHCO has built housing villages in a number of places, including Buffalo City Municipality, East London, Cape Town and Durban; but the main focus of this application is on Amalinda Village (in Buffalo City Municipality).
Hantam Community Education Trust
Many areas in the Northern Cape have little access to any form of education, healthcare, or income, apart from work on local farms. They are far from any towns or services, and this condemns many people in them to lives of poverty and unemployment. The Hantam Community Education Trust (HCET) was established in the Colesburg District in 1989 to attempt to address some of these problems.
PMTCT – Performance: UGU District Health
The Ugu District is in rural KwaZulu-Natal, and has been identified as a presidential priority node, due to high levels of poverty, unemployment, and HIV infection (38% prevalence at antenatal clinics). The rate of mother to child transmission (MTCT) was more than 20%, despite the availability of Nevirapine and AZT. It was therefore decided to address problems in the prevention of MTCT (PMTCT) system in three districts (Ugu, Ethekwini and Umgungundhlovu), with the aim of reaching an MTCT rate of less than 5%.
Durban Landfill Gas to Electricity Project
Landfills generate a large amount of gas, most of which is Methane and Carbon Dioxide, which are both Greenhouse Gases (GHG). They also (predictably) produce large amounts of odour. It was therefore decided to attempt to address both of these problems at landfill sites in KwaZulu-Natal, and two sites were chosen – Mariannhill and Bisasar Road. Engines were built and commissioned at both sites, and received registration to buy carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism. These were two of the first CDM projects in the country. They now both produce useable renewable energy which is used by the Ethekwini Municipality.
HIV/AIDS – Closing the Gaps in Care
Despite the cultural, environmental, and palaeo-anthropological importance of Nahoon Point and Estuary (near to East London), the area was becoming badly degraded, with invasive alien plants, destruction of the plantlife by people, dumping of refuse, and increasing crime. The area holds one of the first discoveries of fossilized human footprints in the dunes; and was previously a site for multiple kinds of outdoor activities and visits (including biking, hiking, surfing, paragliding, golf, fishing etc). The Small Projects Foundation, the East London Museum, and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) partnered together in 2004, to create the Nahoon Point and Estuary Nature Reserve (NPNR).
Kuyasa CDM Project
South Africa has built roughly 2.4m low-income homes in the past 15 years; and aims to build a further 3m over the next 15. However, most of these houses have been built to very basic specifications, with little thought being given to thermal comfort or efficiency. These houses are then characterized by high levels of energy consumption (for heating in winter, for cooling in summer; and for cooking) which corresponds to high energy costs; and poor living conditions for occupants. The aim was therefore to make these houses more energy efficient, to conserve energy, to reduce costs for the occupants, and to benefit their health.
