Cargo Carriers, South Africa’s premium transportation, logistics and supply chain service provider, has responded to South Africa's water crisis by joining hands with "Water Shortage South Africa (#WSSA 2016)", Oasis Water Witbank and Engen Petroleum to supply water to the drought-stricken Vryheid area. Falling into one of the five provinces that have been declared disaster areas - Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the North West, Vryheid has become another casualty of the drought.
Water, the elixir of life, is currently being transported from Witbank in Mpumalanga to Vryheid’s Klipfontein Water Treatment Works where it is purified through a filtration process for supply to the local communities. The 26th January saw Cargo Carriers transport the first load of 32 000 litres of water and has been successfully delivering a load daily. To date over 200 000 litres of water have been delivered. Engen Petroleum, has provided ‘fuel assistance’ and contributed 400 litres of fuel per trip, making continuation of deliveries possible.
Transporting “hope and life” in a tanker has been a humbling experience for the Cargo Carriers team. Marketing Director Andre Jansen van Vuuren expressed the company’s views on the project, “We are proud to be associated with our partners Oasis Water, Engen Petroleum and #WSSA 2016 in this essential project that is changing lives and making a positive difference. Working together with fellow South Africans on projects of this nature is indicative of the spirit of our country.”
#WSSA 2016 or Water Shortage SA is a spontaneous initiative that sprung up on Facebook and has gained momentum through social media. “Never sold, never bought, never sponsored, only donated by South Africans for South Africans" is the motto of Water Shortage South Africa.
The greatest positive outcome of the worst drought in decades is the togetherness shown by South Africans, organisations and businesses. Some call it Ubuntu.