The learners were sponsored by the Palaborwa Foundation, a supporter of education in the region. The ISF is the culmination of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists science fairs held countrywide annually. These begin at the school level, known as school expos, where the best projects are elevated to the district level, followed by regional expos. The best projects at the regional expos compete at the ISF.

Projects from four Mopani regions, as well as Vhembe, Capricorn, and Waterberg, were selected for the ISF. Learners competed against countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Kenya, and other provinces of South Africa. All six learners from Mopani won prizes and awards. Four learners won gold, while the other two won silver and bronze medals respectively.

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Kegaogetswe Motimele from Namakgale won a cash prize of R1500 from the Soil Science Society of South Africa. Ndzhaka Siweya, a learner from Khanyisa High School in Giyani, won a laptop from FFS Refiners. He also walked away with a trophy and a tablet from Siemens. Grade 7 learners from Khanyisa Education Centre, Nicole Machingambi and Mikhenso Manganye, both won laptops from Eskom’s Special Awards.

To top it all, five of the learners won bursaries worth over R460 000 from Eskom. “Well done and congratulations to the class of 2022,” concluded Norman Moshokoa from the Palaborwa Foundation.