Oudtshoorn, 12 December 2016 – On the 8th of December 2016 residents in the Volmoed area received an early Christmas when the Executive Mayor, Aldm Colan Sylvester paid a surprise visit distributing thousands of litres of water.
Access to clean drinking water is a huge challenge in the farms surrounding Oudtshoorn; these farm residents fetch water far away from their homes.
Erica Booysen (57), a widower who has been living at Klip Lokasie for the past 46 years was ecstatic to receive bottled water from the Council.
“This is a pleasant surprise from our Mayor, I did not expect it – I will use this water for drinking only and sparingly,” said Booysen.
The Municipal disaster management department is instrumental in the distribution of 12 000 five litres of water it has received from a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) from Knysna recently. Residents also received wheel-barrow tanks to ferry and store water.
Aldm Sylvester, accompanied by members of the Executive Mayoral Committee (Mayco) distributed water at Die Stasie, Klip Lokasie, Die Areas and Eiland.
“With the drought engulfing South Africa including Oudtshoorn, water supply remains a challenge as there is not enough rain to fill the dams as well as dams to store more water. This little bit of relief for these residents makes a difference, especially during this time of the festive season,” said Aldm Sylvester.
“We are going to other areas as well; we want to encourage residents to use water sparingly and think about those who do not have access to this basic commodity of life,” He concluded.