Ten Matric learners across three Pimville schools now can study after dark, thanks to solar lights manufactured right here in Soweto.
I’ve covered a lot of donation stories over the years, but on Tuesday the 22nd September 2026, the hand-over ceremony at Thaba Jabula Secondary School in Pimville stayed with me in a different way. Watching ten Matric learners collect a solar light and a data-enabled modem of their own, I kept thinking about something simple: none of these learners were being handed a favour. They were being handed the hours they’d been losing every night the power went out.
The event was organised by the Nhlanhla Tshabalala Foundation (NTF), this is the same organisation that hosted its 10th Anniversary Charity Golf Day & Gala Dinner at Soweto Country Club back in August. That event wasn’t only a celebration. It was the fundraiser that made Tuesday’s hand over possible. Money that was raised on the gala dinner table went toward one very specific goal: buying solar lights for Matric learners in homes where the electricity supply can’t always be counted on.
It’s worth sitting with why that matters. Matric is the year South African learners can least afford to lose study time, and for a learner whose neighbourhood experiences load reduction or unreliable power, the hours after dark are exactly the hours that go missing. NTF’s answer to that problem is refreshingly direct: give the learner their own independent light source, so the year’s most important exams don’t come down to something as basic as whether the lights are on.
That mission sits under a motto the Foundation has carried for years — *Leaving No Child Behind* — and under the leadership of Nhlanhla Tshabalala, it’s clear this isn’t a once-off gesture. NTF has set itself the target of reaching 100 Matric learners across Soweto with solar lights by the end of this year.
The ten learners are from different schools in Pimville: Thaba Jabula Secondary School, Progress High School, and Emshukantambo High School.
What struck me just as much as the generosity was where the lights themselves came from. These weren’t imported. They weren’t the cheapest option sourced from overseas and shipped in bulk. Every single unit handed out on Tuesday was designed and manufactured right here in Soweto, by a company called DS Break Solutions, under the leadership of Mr. Sthembiso Khambule.
I think that detail deserves its own moment of recognition. It’s one thing to donate a solar light. It’s another thing entirely to be able to say that the light was engineered, assembled, and built by a Soweto-based company, for Soweto learners.
Mr. Khambule and DS Break Solutions have built something durable enough to trust with a learner’s entire exam year — and they’ve done it without needing to look further than their own community for the skill to make it happen. If you want to see more of what they’re building, their work is worth a proper look at their website.
Afrihost also stepped in for Tuesday’s hand-over, donating ten modems alongside the solar lights so that connectivity — not just light — was part of what these learners walked away with. In 2026, studying after dark isn’t only about being able to see the page; it’s about being able to look something up, submit an assignment, or join a study group online. Pairing the solar lights with modems meant NTF wasn’t just solving half the problem.
Standing in that hall watching the hand-over, what I felt most wasn’t sympathy — it was pride. Pride in a foundation that made this possible, tangible light for ten households. Pride in a Soweto manufacturer building products good enough to hand a Matric learner and trust to get them through the year. And pride in the idea that this is still only the beginning: NTF is continuing to raise funds toward its goal of reaching 100 learners by the end of the year, and they’re actively looking for individuals and companies willing to partner with them to get there.
This is an initiative worth backing. Anyone interested in contributing to NTF’s goal, or learning more about the Foundation’s work, can reach out directly to get involved.
Loxion Express congratulates to Thaba Jabula Secondary, Progress High School, and Emshukantambo High School on your ten newest Top Achiever-in-waiting Matrics. And to Nhlanhla Tshabalala, Sthembiso Khambule, and everyone behind the initiative — Soweto is watching, and we like exactly what we see.
