The Gift of the Givers sent a convoy to drought-stricken Graaff Reinet, to offer some drought intervention and relief to the community.
Graaff Reinet, South Africa – Parts of South Africa are still being devastated by drought. South Africa is a water-scarce country, and we should always be mindful that at any point, we could run out of water. Graaff Reinet has struggled for months with a lack of water.
This is due to a dry rainy season and location. Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman confirmed the area is higher than where the water can reach leaving it dry.
“Too little water reaches the main storage tanks in the lower-lying areas to automatically let the booster pumps kick in to pump water to the higher reservoirs, resulting in water always being available in the lower part of the town but leaving people on higher ground completely dry.”
“Most people living on higher ground are the previously disadvantaged.
“The solution lies in developing existing or new boreholes; managing known aquifers; supplying water at a rate that exceeds water use in low lying areas; allowing pumping systems to run effectively and fill high lying reservoirs as a matter of urgency, and drill boreholes directly in high lying areas if the geography allows that.
“Dr Groenewald will deal with these issues”
As of now, the Nqweba dam is at 0% and the community has access to water via 28 boreholes. The area also has 3 392 households with a permanent population of 37,670 people.
It is because of these facts that Gift of the Givers sent a massive convoy to the drought-stricken town with all the aid they could need.
In a secondary act of Ubuntu, Gift of the Givers was approached by the community of Beaufort West who rallied together to collect 800 x5 litres of bottled water. Beaufort West is also in the grips of a drought, so their act of kindness moved many people to tears.
As we always love to say, we are better together! Community is everything and has the power to make a change, the kind of change that could uplift South Africa forever!
You can find out more about Gift of the Givers on their Facebook page here. The work they do for South African is inspiring and changes lives!
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