TİKA Established A Solar Energy System at The Nursing Home in Cape Town

A 13.650KW solar energy system consisting of inverters and solar panels was established at The Beit-ul-Aman Nursing Home in Cape Town by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA).

Lindiwe Zulu, the Minister of Social Development; Ayşegül Kandaş, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Pretoria; Abdülkadir Abukan, TİKA’s Coordinator in Pretoria; Mogamed Phalide Jeppie, the Institute Principal, attended the opening ceremony of the project along with local media organizations.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Kandaş emphasized the importance of TİKA’s efforts for sustainable development in its development projects held in South Africa and expressed that she is more than glad to participate in the opening of this project which prioritizes the elderly.

Minister Zulu, in her speech, extended her thanks to TİKA and the project stakeholders, and stated that they have been working in order to improve the lives of South Africans and that such project outputs open the way for new opportunities for them.

In his speech, TİKA’s Office Coordinator in South Africa, Abukan highlighted the importance they attach to the project to be sustainable, renewable, and eco-friendly, and expressed his hope for the project to contribute significantly to Beit-ul-Aman and encourage the fellowship and the unity between the two countries.

Speaking at the ceremony, Institute Principal Jeppie stated that this system built by TİKA is a extremely useful operation, having an impact directly on the elderly who make up the most vulnerable part of the needy community. In addition, Jeppie said that the project means a lot to them, given the challenges they face due to the systemic and frequent power cuts in the country.                                                    

The nursing home, launched as a social project in the 1960s and has been institutionalizing and accepting its first residents since the mid-1970s, has hosted over 1000 people in need of care and met their needs. The project held by TİKA is expected to eliminate a significant expense item of the institution as well as to reduce the impact of the power crisis, one of the leading problems in South Africa in recent years, on the elderly.