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MORE than 24 000 litres of water were delivered to the drought-stricken town of Hankey on Saturday.
The donation was facilitated by the South African Water Warriors, a countrywide organisation that collects bottled water for distribution to areas battling with water shortages.
Deon Smit, of the Water Warriors, said the donation was the first of three truck loads destined for Hankey and Patensie.
Saturday’s consignment consisted of 4896 5-litre bottles, donated by La Vie de Luc from Franschhoek. A further 3 000 bottles from Kimberley are also set for Hankey while just more than 5 000 bottles will be delivered to Patensie from Johannesburg.
A truck load of bottled water was also donated by Dischem, Cape Town, earlier this month. Other organisations and individuals, including Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Margaret de Andrade, have also started water drives for Hankey and Patensie in their towns. De Andrade dropped off 70 bottles this week, with more to follow.
Kouga Executive Mayor Horatio Hendricks and his wife, Amor, were at Hankey on Saturday to welcome the Water Warriors.
“We are incredibly grateful for this donation and all the roleplayers that made it possible. It is heartwarming to know that we are still a country where people care about each other and support those in crisis.”
Meanwhile, Kouga Municipality has repaired the valve at the Weston reservoir that was smashed by vandals last week, leaving the community with no access to tap water at all.
Watershedding is currently being implemented at Hankey and Patensie due to the low level of the Kouga Dam, which supplies the towns with water.
“This means the water to the towns is turned on for only a few hours a day,” Hendricks explained.
Despite some rain falling over the dam and in the catchment area last week, the dam level stood at only 6,86% on Monday (20 August).
The municipality has been making bottled water available to households. These can be collected from the Vusumzi Landu Hall or Weston Community Hall.
Water is also available from the rainwater tanks that were installed at Hankey earlier this year.
Anyone who wishes to contribute to the South African Water Warriors can visit their fundraising page at https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/south-african-water-warriors. They are also on Facebook.
