South Africans Drop Off Water to Help Overcome the Curse of El Niño
The drought continues apace in South Africa. It’s hot as hell everywhere, including obviously Hotazel. Water shortages are a reality (even if some people in Joburg still think it’s cool to water their gardens during the day, despite the water restrictions that have been in place for a while). The Mother City isn’t taking the […]
The drought continues apace in South Africa. It’s hot as hell everywhere, including obviously Hotazel.
Water shortages are a reality (even if some people in Joburg still think it’s cool to water their gardens during the day, despite the water restrictions that have been in place for a while).
The Mother City isn’t taking the requisite nine months to get it done – water restrictions came into play there on New Year’s Day (along with an announcement from the South African Weather Service that the Western Cape temperature could be classified as a heatwave).
And it has been forecasted that the weather system will only begin its gradual decay during the autumn and early winter seasons.
Some facts as per the “Water Shortage SA Everyone can be a helper, a hero – it’s easy” site:
- Low rainfall in parts of South Africa has caused severe drought and water scarcity. Five out of our nine provinces have been declared disaster areas.
- Harrowing stories from children competing with cows for drinking water to farmers committing suicide, echoes over our barren land.
- As in the case with most disasters, humans do come up with creative solutions and show compassion towards each other, not forgetting our four legged friends.
While many people are getting their knickers in a knot about some ill-advised half a tw*t posting a racist comment on FB, those of us with less time on our hands are spending it trying to work out how to help the people in the country who really need it.
Thus instead of retweeting and vilifying, we’re using our time constructively and bringing the more dire plight of the population – both human and animal – to the public consciousness.
(And before anybody goes off and reckons that I am underplaying the importance of not allowing racism to pervade our society, bear in mind that I am colour blind and refuse to buy into the ‘lively banter’ that is now being flung from both sides of the coin – please do excuse the mixed metaphors and the pun! Eish, what a pretty penny that’s going to cost her. Happy Monday!)
The first thing I noticed was the Durbanite who can turn air into water, sport PR and event person Ray de Vries. Having worked with him at some stage on the Dusi Canoe Marathon, it’s not surprising to me that this wizard has stayed within the watery realms.
He’s now taken a leap into the barren wastes of our country, spearheading a drive to get water to those who need it most, bringing the plight of various parts of the country to people on his FB page.
There’s also a Facebook Group (set up by the group mentioned up top, Water Shortage South Africa) which was started to coordinate water drop off points in drought stricken areas all over South Africa, with the warning that no water is allowed to be sold. Donations only.
It’s a positive way to encourage those holiday makers who are travelling by car to see if they can help out by dropping off water where it’s needed. You can help out too. Visit their site.
This is a situation that has been long coming, one that so many people have ignored. Soon it will affect everyone, not just those in the rural areas, or just in South Africa. Time for everybody to do their bit, however small it is…