WATCH | Wish to purify dirty stream inspires Thembisa school team

Tembisa West Secondary School's “AquaBot Guardian” saw them chosen as the Gauteng entrant in the government's national Youth Water Prize competition.

Siyabonga Khuzwayo, 16, and his mentor, Kiew Mthombeni, won the provincial innovation category. Their box-like creation uses a pincer-type movement to collect junk in water.

“The motivation behind the robot stems from our living situation in Thembisa. There is a river that is constantly dirty and the water smells,” said Mthombeni.

“We decided to try to fix that in a cost-effective way, using materials such as cardboard, toothpicks and a syringe. It’s an artificial robot that uses coding to detect dirt and unwanted particles in the water. The robot goes around searching for dirt and puts it into a holding bag.” 

“The robot can clean dams and rivers. When we won, I was happy,” said Khuzwayo.

The national leg of the competition, which challenges grade 9 to 11 pupils studying science and mathematics to find solutions for real-life water, sanitation or environmental issues in their communities, will be held at the end of this week in Kempton Park. 

The overall winner will represent South Africa at the Stockholm Junior Water Prize event.

Department of water and sanitation spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said there are cash prizes of:

• R15,000 for the winner;
• R14,000 for the runner-up; and
• R12,500 for third place.

The national winners are also eligible for bursaries from the department to study any water-related career. 

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