In 2018 the unemployment rate for South Africa’s youth was at a staggering 27.2 percent, with the country’s high crime rate exacerbating the situation for many communities.
In response the South African government, as well as private organisations are trying to do their best to combat these challenges.
Case in point Community Safety from non-profit organisation MeMeZa, which recently partnered with Hewlett Packard Enterprise South Africa (HPE SA). The partnership has helped MeMeZa to reduce the costs of security systems, as well as to create additional employment opportunities and skills development to 15 young people, the organisation says.
According to MeMeZa they have embarked on a project that allows them to manufacture their products in-house, which will then help them to deliver innovative security technologies to those who live in disadvantaged communities.
“MeMeZa is helping to reduce crime and unemployment problems. Importantly a black female owned enterprise is highlighting how women can play an active role in the transformation of South Africa. We are proud to support such a worthy initiative through active involvement which is making a real difference to the organisation,” said MD of HPE SA, Sherifa Hady.
Furthermore the organisation adds that their recently developed Community Safety Alarm is an intelligent prepaid GSM system that communicates via SMS to neighbours, family, street patrollers and community policing forums. The alarm is also linked directly to the South African Police Services (SAPS) so that law enforcement can be notified immediately for swifter response times.
“Our next challenge was the manufacture of our alarm devices. We were struggling with outsourcing production, the quality was poor and the pricing was high. In 2018 through the support of HPE SA, additional opportunities were created allowing us to expand our operation with local manufacturing,” explains MeMeZa Community Safety founder, Thuli Mthethwa
“This is enabling us to currently produce between 10 to 20 units per day. Our goal for 2019 is to scale the factory and launch our product nationally,” she concludes.
[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]
