SA's greatest inventions on show
17 August 2004
An exhibition of more than 200 of South Africa's greatest inventions has opened at the MTN ScienCentre in Cape Town in a show designed to highlight innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit.
The inventions range from the well-known - the Kreepy Krauly pool cleaner, and the famous dolosse concrete structures which protect harbours and seawalls worldwide - to the technical to the homespun ethnic.
Though organisers did not bring in a real dolosse - they weigh up to 20 tons - they put a smaller-scale model and a miniature wave pool showing how it works on display.
"Few people realise just what an impact South African inventions have had, not just locally but overseas as well", said Mike Bruton of the MTN ScienCentre.
"These cover a wide range of applications in many
different fields - from consumer and industrial to medical and entertainment."
Other South African inventions on show are the tellurometer, the first commercial microwave distance-measuring device, used mainly for land surveying, the Scheffel Bogie, an undercarriage for trains, and the Freeplay wind-up radio.
Among the more unusual local innovations on show are the Mandela Shirt, car tyre sandals, and a display on Nguni and Bonsmara cattle.
Visitors will be able to ride a bicycle-powered water pump and play the Afri-Can oilcan guitar.
They'll also be able to blow a vuvuzela horn, the musical trademark of South African soccer that - since the country won the bid to host the 2010 Football World Cup - has become a symbol of South African exuberance.
According to sponsors Rand Merchant Bank, the exhibition aims "to make South Africans proud of their technological heritage during this, the 10th anniversary of our democracy".
The exhibition runs at the
MTN ScienCentre at Canal Walk, Century City until 31 December before travelling to other science centres and fairs across the country.
For more information, visit the MTN ScienCentre website
SouthAfrica.info reporter
| 
