Plant manager benefits from bursary programme

The 28-year-old’s easy smile disguises the hard yards travelled and the setbacks encountered in realising his electrical engineering ambitions, although he was not expecting to find a flourishing career in his own backyard.

Deswin Basson was born and bred in the Northern Cape’s impoverished mining town of Prieska and found his niche in De Aar — another small and dilapidated South African rural town less than 200km from his birthplace after scouring the country for both academic studies and job opportunities.

In April next year, Basson will celebrate his third year at the state-owned Chinese energy company Longyuan Mulilo, an anniversary he readily admits was far from pre-ordained.

“I was lucky and I also worked extremely hard to get a job with Longyuan,” he says.

The hangover from the 2008 global crash saw his father retrenched from his miner’s job. “From there everything went downhill. We were seven people living in one room, my father had piecemeal jobs but it was never enough,” he says.

It was an eventuality that made the road to getting his electrical engineer qualifications that much harder.

The family’s sudden descent into poverty coincided with Basson’s high school studies and, after matriculating in 2014, his next hurdle was gathering the necessary qualifications to reach his electrical engineering goals.

Working a variety of jobs during his studies, including installing house electricity boxes for Eskom, enabled him to obtain an N2 electrical engineering qualification in Kimberley, before enrolling for his N3 electrical engineering certificate in Uppington.

“I really wanted to study and make something of myself. It was very difficult. I never had enough money for my books, tuition, food and monthly rent.”

Basson’s routine applications for bursaries went unanswered, before a friend mentioned China’s Longyuan Mulilo energy company was offering financial assistance for higher education and, with everything to gain, he applied.

After an interview, Longyuan Mulilo offered Basson a bursary for an electrical engineering diploma from Pretoria’s Tshwane University of Technology.

“I was able to enjoy my studies and not be frustrated by financial stuff. They paid for everything — accommodation, food, stationery, tuition and transport every day to and from school. There was no obligation to work for Longyuan afterwards. My only obligation to them was to finish my studies,” he says.

Basson secured a job in 2020 at a Cape Town engineering firm for “the necessary in-service training” for graduation, before it was scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing him to return to Prieska.

“I had hit a wall and then Longyuan contacted me to offer in-service training in 2021. After finishing they asked me if I wanted to stay and I jumped at it. It was a once in a life opportunity, and I am going to call it that because it was. I felt deep down that I wanted to give something back to Longyuan.”

He was appointed the wind farm’s junior plant manager with responsibilities for the substation, overhead power lines and, in the last few months, the wind turbines’ maintenance. Basson quickly recognised that Longyuan Mulilo aligned with his need to uplift his community.

“I saw how they were helping my community and I also wanted to give back to my community and Longyuan gave me that opportunity. I also mentor other young people wanting to become electrical engineers. It’s very important for me. It comes from my experience and what I have been through and what I have seen to be able to support the local youth,” he says.

“Green energy is the future. It not only brings opportunities for advancement, but it also helps our communities.”

I WANTED TO STUDY AND MAKE SOMETHING OF MYSELF. IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT. I NEVER HAD ENOUGH MONEY FOR MY BOOKS, TUITION, FOOD AND RENT