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PE teen comes up with innovative idea to combat car theft

Johannesburg - A Port Elizabeth teen has developed a system he hopes will curb vehicle theft.

With vehicle theft rife in his city, 19-year-old Abongile Ngcosholo said he wants to find a way of reducing these robberies.

The learner at Ndzondelelo High School in the Eastern Cape has devised and designed a circuit board system that will notify vehicle owners when the car door is being opened.

The system works with a key which lights up and vibrates when a vehicle car door is opened, Ngcosholo told Fin24.

Ngcosholo said the aim is to develop a signal that will notify a car owner when his car is being stolen. Once the owner has locked the car door and left, the system would send him a signal if a stranger forces the door open.

Ngcosholo’s invention caught the attention of Transnet, which offered him financial assistance with his studies in 2016. Ngcosholo and his family are surviving on a government grant.

“I wanted people to see immediately when their cars were being stolen," he said enthusiastically.

"I had this idea of people seeing a signal on their keys when someone is stealing their cars, but didn't know how to make the device. I have designed a few prototypes to get my device to work,” he said.

His school awarded him a sponsorship after its head of department, Ayanda Simayi, noticed Ngcosholo's outstanding talent, despite his difficult circumstances at home.

Ngcosholo also won the International Eskom Science Expo Competition in 2016.

In recognition of the viable potential of his invention's business model, Ngcosholo is now being mentored by a regional Grassroots Innovation Programme representative and innovator, Sandiswa Qayi. Qayi created the geyser energy reduction sleeve, recently reported on by Fin24.  

“I think that is an excellent invention in a place where crime is at the highest (level). He is an innovator who used technology to addresses social ills,” Qayi told Fin24. 

Ngcosholo will likely be inducted into the programme - an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and hosted by the Technology Localisation Implementation Unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – to mass-produce the technology.

Other innovators incubated by the programme include Nkosana Madi from Springs in Gauteng, who developed a hybrid motorised bicycle, and Phumlani Ntloko from Pretoria, who created a Computer Numeric Machine used to test motherboard prototypes and 3D printing at a fraction of the cost.

The programme has now incubated Ntloko's company to produce more CNC machines.

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