As Cape Town braces itself for Day Zero – the day when the taps will run dry – some communities in Durban are rallying together to make a difference in the name of Ubuntu.
The Mother City’s drought crisis that has become known as “Day Zero” is currently predicted for April 12th.
Kaveeth Mohan and the “Cape Town Water Drive” group from Reservoir Hills in Durban have already collected about five tons of water.
Mohan is calling on trucking and water companies to partner with them to make a difference.
“There are businesses that are involved at the moment. If they can obviously speak to people that they’re dealing with as well, perfect! It’ll be a hundred 100% for us. We’re trying to target Reservoir Hills, but if we get people from out of the area it’s not a problem if they don’t have a problem delivering the water to us. Let’s hope from next week whatever we have can go out.”
Yasiera Suliman, who heads the non-profit organisation the Caring Sisters Network, is partnering with humanitarian aid experts, the Gift of the Givers, to collect funds to deliver water to those who need it the most in Cape Town.
“We’ve got an arrangement with the bottling company. They will conveniently bottle the water and drop it off at the Gift of the Givers warehouses. The bottling company is charging us R10 for a 5l and that’s what we’re offering it to the community for. And we will conveniently arrange for the bottling company to deliver the water to the Gift of the Givers. We all know, you know Day Zero is coming close. So, it’s just our humanitarian senses in us. It is our duty as South Africans to help our fellow South Africans.”
