A group of 20 teenagers invented South Africa's first fully solar-powered train. Photovoltaic panels fitted to the roof, the angular blue-and-white test train moves on an 18-metre-long (60 feet) test track in Soshanguve township north of the capital Pretoria
A solar-powered train built by students of Soshanguve technical high school in Soshanguve township in the northern suburbs of Pretoria. Image: Phill Magakoe / AFP
For years, students in a South African township have seen their parents struggle to use trains for daily commutes, the railways frequently hobbled by power outages and cable thefts.
To respond to the crisis, a group of 20 teenagers invented South Africa's first fully solar-powered train.
Photovoltaic panels fitted to the roof, the angular blue-and-white test train moves on an 18-metre-long (60 feet) test track in Soshanguve township north of the capital Pretoria.
Trains are the cheapest mode of transport in South Africa, used mostly by the poor and working class.
"Our parents... no longer use trains (because of) cable theft... and load shedding," said Ronnie Masindi, 18, referring to rolling blackouts caused by failures at old and poorly maintained coal-powered plants.
The state power company Eskom started imposing on-and-off power rationing 15 years ago to prevent a total national blackout.