GRAAFF-REINET resident Corene Conradie was very concerned when she met a severely dehydrated woman last week who had to go to hospital after falling ill from drinking tap water.
Via Facebook, Conradie asked for donations of water from the community for this family.
She was subsequently contacted by Samantha Graham (a councillor from Beyers Naudé Local Municipality) and they decided to start a water drive.
By then, a number of residents had already contacted Graham about the quality of the water.
“The water at this stage was yellow and stinking. It had a salty taste and a few people had complained that their children and babies had become ill as a result of it,” said Graham.
Conradie created a Facebook page called Graaff-Reinet Water Crisis and requests were made to folks to donate water and containers.
Within hours, Chris Serfontein, a local businessman, had donated 50 litres of water to a family of 19. He also arranged to have boxes placed at Oasis for collection of water donations.
“We received containers and some money from Mariaan Fourie du Preez and the Giant Flag came on board immediately to offer their premises at 28 Cradock Street as a drop off point.
“Cindy Roux and Thobeka Booysen, who both work for the Giant Flag, donated 25 litres each to the hospital for their water dispensers after discovering that the hospital was filling their water dispenser bottles from the taps!” said Graham.
In the interim, Cheryl Waddelow, at Pick n Pay, agreed to be a drop off point, along with Fanie and Charlene Prinsloo at Kudu Garage Workshop.
Several farmers have indicated that they were prepared to bring in fresh water from their farms if the Water Crisis initiative could supply containers.
BNLM advised residents on Friday that the municipality would no longer be drawing water from the dam and would now rely totally on boreholes.
This has led to a slight improvement in water quality, but also negatively impacted on the quantity of water available.
“We are sending water trucks to the higher areas in uMasizakhe, Mandela Park and Horseshoe,” BNLM spokesperson Wilca Smith has indicated.
“The municipality kindly requests residents’ co-operation and assistance with saving water, as well as informing other residents who do not have access to platforms where these messages are conveyed.”
Growing concern about tap water quality has compelled the Graaff-Reinet Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRRA) to request permission from the municipal manager and engineer to visit the purification plant. Their request has been granted, but a date is yet to be confirmed.
Graham said, “Access to clean water is a basic human right and the idea that there are people who are precluded from this because of financial reasons is just devastating to me. If the government can’t meet its obligations to provide our people with decent drinking water, then we have to do it until they step up. Thankfully, there are many people who feel the same and who have so generously donated to this initiative.”
To contribute to the GRT Water Crisis initiative, donations can be made to:
Account Name: GRT Water
Bank: Capitec
Branch Code: 470010
Account Number: 1624835390 (Savings Account).
For more info contact Samantha Graham at 083 409 9196 or samanthajgraham27@gmail.com
