Makhanda, Burdened But Not Alone.

By Prashalan Govender

The water shortage in the Eastern Cape  has been prevalent for almost a year now. The drought has managed to persist in the Eastern Cape because of high temperatures and extremely hot days which have resulted in dam levels dropping drastically due to evaporation.

Inarguably, the most affected areas have been small towns such as Makhanda (formerly known as Grahamstown) because small towns usually have poor infrastructure to deal with such a crisis. Thankfully, institutions such as Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA), Engen, Dalsey Hillblom Lynn (DHL)-courier company- and more have stepped in to provide relief.

The aid from institutions in and out of Makhanda began streaming in from February 2019 when the dire situation prompted the Gift of the Givers to take action and announce that they would be arriving in Makhanda soon with a supply of water. The Gift of the Givers arrived on the 12th of February and was received by hundreds of residents of Makhanda outside City Hall. The Givers distributed the truckload of five-litre bottles to a long queue and announced the arrival of another truckload of water coming soon (no specific date was given). 

The visit resulted in a discussion for the development of long-term solutions such as boreholes. So, on the 14th of February Makhanda felt the love in the air as the Gift of the Givers confirmed to news organisation Grocott’s Mail that a rig for drilling boreholes would be leaving Kwazulu-Natal and arriving in Makhanda as soon as possible to begin the drilling of Boreholes.

Due to the severity of the situation and the extensive project that is the drilling of boreholes Gift of the Givers could not conduct the project by themselves therefore Gift of the Givers decided to join forces with the UCKAR to secure groundwater for the university. The prioritization of the university’s residents maybe perceived as the needs of the privileged being put before the needs of the average citizen in Makhanda. However, Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman- founder of Gift of the Givers- ensures that this is not the case. “The lifeblood of the economy is Rhodes University. If that shuts down the city shuts down.”

On the 22nd of February, the Gift of the Givers in partnership with the UCKAR drilled their first borehole at Settlers Monument. Soon after, another borehole was drilled- the two boreholes are set to pump water into nearby reservoirs and from there the water will flow into the existing water reticulation system within the university’s buildings. After the drilling of the third borehole began Gift of the Givers disclosed their plans to the South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC) announcing the givers plan to drill 20 total boreholes in Makhanda.

Not wanting to depend too much on external forces the UCKAR began independently formulating their plan to provide water for their students and staff. The university placed khaki coloured water tanks filled with water for students. The tanks suitably labelled ‘Drinking Water’ (as seen in the image above) is located just outside the main library on campus. Students were equipped with water bottles so that they could store the tank’s water in anticipation of the tanks’ arrival.

The aid for residents of Makhanda continued into March as 150 tanks made their way into the town courtesy of ABSA and Engen. ABSA and Engen sponsored 360 000 litres of bottled water and 150 JoJo tanks that made their way into Makhanda on the 4th of March. The generous donation was able to delivered through the help of Gift of the Givers and DHL.

Gift of the Givers sponsored five trucks and the other six that were needed was sponsored by DHL as stated by the Gift of the Givers chairperson, Imtiaz Sooliman, “Corporate managers from ABSA and Engen will hand over 360 000 litres of  bottled water and 150 JoJo tanks, sponsored respectively by these companies DHL have sponsored six trucks to accompany five Gift of the Givers trucks to Makhanda,…”

Although the water crisis has not shown any sign of disappearing any time soon residents can be at peace knowing  that as the situation grows help from both the inside and outside of town is likely to grow too.