Two horticultural tunnels and a borehole were officially launched at Soshanguve Engineering School of Specialisation on 15 September, but the project’s real origin predates the Shoprite Foundation funding that made it possible it began with learners going hungry.
According to the school, learners had reportedly struggled to concentrate and learn while hungry, compounded by a water crisis affecting the school. In response, a group of Grade 11 learners developed a plan to build a borehole to supply filtered water a project that expanded first into a bottled water business, and eventually into the vegetable-producing tunnels launched this week.
The borehole now supplies purified water for the learners’ bottled water venture, aimed at addressing dehydration in the community. Presenting the business’s value proposition, structure and distribution channels, learner Ms Princess Nkonyane said the venture will provide purified water and vegetables at affordable prices, supporting local economic development and community health. According to Ms Nkonyane, the business is not profit-driven, surplus water and produce will be donated to local vulnerable groups, NGOs and NPOs.
School principal Mr Amos Tladi Mashiane, who has led the school since 2021, said the achievement reflects a broader pattern of progress at the school in recent years, including strong academic performance and international opportunities for learners, and said he expects even stronger results ahead.
The project has drawn formal backing from the Shoprite Foundation, which funded the tunnels and borehole as an expansion of a similar programme first piloted at Oosrand Commerce and Entrepreneurship School of Specialisation, where roughly 5,000 units of produce have been harvested over two years and more than 1,700 learners trained in agriculture, according to the Foundation. Forty Grade 9 learners will use the Soshanguve tunnels for training in soil science, crop rotation, composting, irrigation and pest control, delivered in partnership with MarketPlace Academy, which also supports an accredited plant production qualification linked to the CAPS curriculum.
Managing trustee of the Shoprite Foundation Ms Maude Modise said the initiative gives learners both theoretical and practical agricultural skills. MarketPlace Academy CEO Chantyl Mulder said the tunnels provide learners with a place to complete the practical component required for the accredited qualification alongside their matric.
The school plans to use tunnel produce to supplement its feeding scheme, with any surplus sold to the community and proceeds reinvested into the school, Mr Mashiane said. The current cohort takes over from a pilot group of Grade 11 learners who began the project the previous year.
