EASTERN CAPE - GIFT OF THE GIVERS TO DELIVER 8 TRUCKLOADS OF FODDER TO DROUGHT-STRICKEN GRAAFF-REINET

Emergency fodder is set to be delivered to drought stricken Graaff-Reinet this week.

The Gift of the Givers foundation will be delivering eight truckloads of fodder to farmers in Graaff-Reinet on Tuesday, following a request from emerging and commercial farmers.

At the beginning of October, the humanitarian organisation sent teams to the Dr Beyers Naudé municipality in the Eastern Cape, where the main water-supplying dam has run dry. The municipality has been relying on 28 boreholes to service 3 392 households and a population of 37 670 permanent residents, News24 previously reported.

Gift of the Givers has already committed to three superlinks laden with water, three water tankers, a drilling machine, and has sent its renowned hydrologist, Dr Gideon Groenewald, to the area.

Groenewald will oversee the drilling of our eight boreholes in the town. The first five boreholes have yielded 102 000L per day, collectively.

Solution lies in boreholes

Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman says: "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 previously disadvantaged, he adds.

"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."

In addition to fodder, bottled water, water tankers and nutritional supplies for children will be delivered to the area.

The organisation has sourced and delivered fodder to numerous communities in the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal

via - NEWS24