Although Cape Town managed to narrowly escape the clutches of living in a drought, several other municipalities within the Western Cape have not been so fortunate. The Kannaland Municipality, in which the towns of Calitzdorp and Ladismith both lie, has requested an urgent water bottle delivery from charity organisation Gift of the Givers as it is running out of water.
Approximately 14 000 people live within the municipality, and Gift of the Givers has provided each and every one of them with drinking water.
Speaking to IOL, Gift of the Givers Chief Executive Imtiaz Sooliman said the organisation responded to several towns in need throughout 2018. “Gift of the Givers brought in 300 containers of bottled water by ship and road to Cape Town from January, at our cost, to assist the citizens of the whole of the Western Cape. This water was sponsored by South Africans directly to Gift of the Givers. We have responded to various water crises in the Western Cape throughout 2018,” he said.
“Gift of the Givers has already packed trucks with bottled water to deliver this coming week to the areas mentioned in the letter. Many corporations have once again asked us to collect tonnes of bottled water from next week to respond to the various severely drought-affected areas in the Western Cape,” Sooliman added.
According to Kannaland Municipal Manager Reynold Stevens, Calitzdorp and Zoar are especially affected by the drought. “Kannaland municipality is currently facing tremendous challenges regarding the provision of drinking water due to the drought, and extreme dry weather conditions,” he said in a letter. “The communities of Calitzdorp, and Zoar are at this stage affected by this situation, due to the drop in dam levels.”
The municipality appealed for assistance with drinking water for 3 000 households, which equates to approximately 14 205 people.
Oudtshoorn municipality also confirmed that the water supply was under pressure due to problems with its borehole pumps.
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