The Department of Local Government in the Western Cape has helped facilitate the provision of 90000 litres of drinking water to drought stricken municipalities in the Northern Cape.
The water was delivered to areas including Hondeklipbaai, Garies and various hospitals in the province.
Anton Bredell, the minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape, says the West Coast District municipality provided the water which was delivered by Coca Cola over the weekend and on Monday.
“We were happy to be able to provide some assistance to our neighbours in the Northern Cape in cooperation with several partners including Coca Cola who used a 30000 litre tanker to transport the water. The tanker was refilled three times on Sunday and Monday by firefighters in Vredendal and the Western Cape municipalities are providing the water at no charge.”
Graham Paulse, the head of the department says the department coordinated efforts from the Matzikama Local Municipality and West Coast District Municipality in the Western Cape.
“We want to thank our municipalities and their workers for their efforts as well. We continue to be on hand to provide further support where we can.”
In further good news, the catchment area of the Gamka Dam in Beaufort West has seen an estimated 70mm of rainfall over the past few days. This is an area that is extremely hard hit by an ongoing drought. The rain has been falling across a wide area and includes Laingsburg and Prince Albert municipalities.