Drought/water saving
Companies step up to help
Drought aid efforts
F
ollowing the drought which has ravaged large
parts of South Africa, First National Battery has
taken the initiative to lend a hand during this
time of need.
Webb further went on to say that being the leading manufacturer
and distributor of lead acid batteries to both the OEM and
replacement markets, gives First National Battery the ability to get
to these outlying areas and that they’re happy to jump in during
this time of need.
Automotive director at First National Battery, Andrew Webb,
stated that they’re very pleased to be able to take advantage
of their national footprint and large fleet of vehicles to assist in
donating and transporting water to residents in the Eastern Cape
and Free State.
He also expressed sincere gratitude to Jo-Jo, Eco Tanks and
Scale Mate, who kindly loaned containers enabling the delivery
of more than 80 000 litres of water to communities around Lady
Grey recently. Apart from the bulk and bottled water donated by
First National Battery, bottled water donations were received from
Pure Water, Vincent Spar, East London Vinegar, the community
and various schools in the East London area.
A further 70 000 litres of water are set to be transported on
two Avonlea trucks over the weekend. “We thank Avonlea, our
transport contractor, who has also kindly made some of their
trucks available for the transport of these bulk water loads out of
our East London plant,” says Webb.
First National Battery Benoni delivered 15 000 litres of bulk water
and a further 1000 litres of bottled water to the drought stricken
town of Winburg in the Free State. A further 19 000 litres of bulk
water are scheduled for delivery in this area.
First National Battery plans to continue providing
much needed drought relief until the initiative is
reviewed at the end of February.
The present drought situation in perspective
by Kosie van Zyl, Agri SA advisor
D
aily newspapers, media releases and
radio talks on the drought situation in the
country have become the news of the day
and rightly so, because the country is in the midst
of a serious disaster drought situation, some people
speculate the worst in 20 years or 40 years or ever.
Being involved in disaster management and drought relief
measures for a long time, it was interesting to look through old
documents and to come to the conclusion that South Africa had
its fair share of droughts and we as a country must take our hats
off to the farmers that do so well all along.
In the early 1800s, a number of droughts were noted in the
country. A number of serious drought spells and years of noted
drought prevailed including: 1812-1815; 1817-1819; 18271829; 1834-1838; 1844; 1862; 1866-1869; 1876; 1879;
1887-1890 and 1896; 1898 (Republic of South Africa, 1968).
During, the first half of the previous century, major droughts
occurred during 1904 to 1908; 1912 to 1916; 1919 (severe);
1922 to 1924; 1926 to 1928; 1930 to 1933; 1935 to 1938,
with the droughts of the 1980s and 1990s, in many areas
recorded as the worst, since 1922.
SABI | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016
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