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Jakes van Deventer is our electrical services foreman at Facilities Management. Think loadshedding, then think Jakes. He is receiving this award today in recognition of his outstanding work to ensure that our campus community can function thanks to generators that they've installed as well as external lightning in crucial areas.

Jakes joined Stellenbosch University in 2009, primarily to manage generators and external lights. Over the past few years, thanks to Eskom, he had his work cut out for him with hours of loadshedding being part of our daily lives on and off campus. Thanks to Jakes and his team, we could keep the lights on during crucial times to ensure the campus functions properly, exams could be written and events, such as our graduation ceremonies, can continue without interruption.

In 2014 Jakes and his team upgraded the switchgear and replaced the generators at the SU library and the Neelsie Student Centre – as these were old and past their lifetime. He was also instrumental in ensuring student safety by installing crucial external lights onto the generators' grids so that students could safely walk on campus during loadshedding.

Over the past few years, we've seen major parts failing on some of our critical generators, but in each case, Jake's and his team's response was swift and exemplary. Jakes installed hired generators in most of these cases within hours to ensure a seamless transition from one to another without us putting our core business to risk.

During crucial loadshedding times, Jakes almost lived on campus, so to speak, and we are immensely grateful to him, given the impact this disruption had on his family. Thank you, Jakes, for your continued dedication to your important work on our campus.​

Watch Jakes's video here

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