At Infra Impact, we believe that infrastructure is more than steel, fibre, and concrete. Done well, it creates the conditions for people to grow, communities to thrive, and opportunity to reach those who need it most. Our sponsorship of the Brackenfell High School Broadcast and Podcast Studio is a reflection of exactly that belief in action.
A Vision Built from Experience
The story behind this project begins with Reinhardt Hamman, Brackenfell High School’s Head of Marketing and the driving force behind its media programme. Reinhardt is a former Paralympic athlete who competed for Team South Africa for ten years, representing the country at both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. When he retired from competition, he carried that same focus and drive into a new arena: giving young people the skills, the platform, and the confidence to compete in the modern world.
What started as a photography initiative at the school quickly evolved into something far larger. Reinhardt identified a gap in how students were being prepared for an economy that increasingly demands digital fluency, and he set about closing it. He assembled a production programme, invested some of the school’s own resources in equipment, and built something genuinely pioneering: Brackenfell High became the first school in South Africa to run an active podcast, a distinction confirmed by the Western Cape Education Department.
The growth has been remarkable. In the first year, five students participated in the production group. This year, that number has risen to 45.
Two Containers. One Transformative Idea.
The next chapter of Reinhardt’s vision required infrastructure. The plan was to convert two shipping containers into a fully equipped broadcast and podcast studio, positioned on the school’s premises and capable of housing professional-grade live streaming, audio engineering, and post-production operations. What Reinhardt needed was a primary sponsor who understood the long-term value of building something that lasts.
That is where Infra Impact came in. Our involvement grew organically out of an existing relationship with the school, one that had developed through a shared passion for sport and community. Our Director had already built a connection with Brackenfell High through his support of the school’s hockey programme, and when Reinhardt walked him around the campus and laid out his vision for the studio, its potential was immediately clear. The commitment to sponsor the containers followed, and the project began to take shape.
Reinhardt described the moment of confirmation as one of the most significant of the entire initiative. The kind of belief that a sponsorship like this signals, matters as much as the financial contribution itself. It tells a team of students, teachers, and community members that their vision is worth backing.
The Educational Case: Skills That Cannot Be Replicated
South Africa faces a well-documented youth unemployment challenge. One of its root causes is a mismatch between the skills that school leavers possess and the experience that employers actually require. Reinhardt’s media programme addresses this head-on.
Students in the programme are trained across the full production spectrum: sound engineering, camera operations, live streaming, post-production editing, scriptwriting, interview technique, and public speaking. They run live broadcasts modelled on professional sports coverage, complete with pre-show segments, commentary, and post-match interviews with team captains. They host podcast episodes that tackle curriculum subjects, engage with community figures, and give learners a platform to discuss issues that matter to them.
Crucially, participation is formally recognised. Students earn certificates that, when hours are calculated, translate to the equivalent of five years of industry experience. In a job market where many employers now weigh demonstrated experience as heavily as formal qualifications, this is a significant head start. Two students have already committed to pursuing careers in sound and lighting production directly as a result of the programme.
Beyond the technical, the programme is developing human skills that no algorithm can replicate: the ability to listen carefully, ask the right follow-up question, hold an audience’s attention, and communicate clearly under pressure. These are capabilities that serve young people regardless of the career path they ultimately choose.
Cape Audio College has also developed a partnership with the school, sending their engineers in to run sound for the school’s annual carnival, with Brackenfell High’s own students working alongside them in a live, real-world environment.
23,000 Reasons Community Connection Matters
In February 2026, Brackenfell High hosted its top five athletics meeting and live-streamed the entire event using the studio programme’s student-run production team. The stream ran for nine hours. It attracted 23,000 viewers.
That figure speaks to something important. Infrastructure that connects communities and removes barriers to participation generates measurable social value. Parents who cannot take time off work, family members in other provinces, alumni living abroad, all of them were able to be present for a significant moment in school life because a group of students had the skills and the equipment to make it possible.
The upcoming sports weekend on 13 and 14 March 2026 will be the broadcast studio’s first major deployment at full capacity, and it will build directly on what those students achieved at the athletics meeting.
A Self-Sustaining Model: Infrastructure That Pays for Itself
One dimension of this project that resonates strongly with how we think about investment at Infra Impact is its commercial design. Reinhardt has not built a cost centre. He has built a revenue-generating asset for the school.
The studio’s LED billboard, planned for phase two of the container fit-out, will offer advertising space at rates significantly below competing screens in the immediate vicinity. The podcast programme already incorporates dedicated sponsor slots, giving local businesses up to 45 minutes of authentic, community-embedded advertising per episode. The school’s annual movie nights, designed around accessible ticket packages, have the potential to generate significant revenue from ticket sales alone.
This commercial thinking is already attracting significant marketing interest from well-known South African brands. The school’s profile is growing, and with it, the interest from businesses who want to be part of a community story that is clearly gaining momentum.
What This Means for Infra Impact
Our work as an infrastructure and impact investment firm is grounded in a simple conviction: the most durable investments are those that deliver essential services and create genuine value for the communities they touch. We invest in water, waste, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure because these are the systems that make modern life possible.
Our sponsorship of the Brackenfell High Broadcast and Podcast Studio extends that logic into a different kind of infrastructure: the infrastructure of human capability. The containers we have sponsored will house students gaining real skills, real experience, and real confidence. The community connections they strengthen through live broadcasts and podcasts are as meaningful as any fibre cable or solar panel.
We are proud to be part of this. And we look forward to watching what Reinhardt and his students build from here.
