Water initiative keeps gardens alive

Members of Ikhaya Garden watering their garden after receiving a tank full of water.

As the province continues to battle the severe drought, the Ikhaya Garden in Site C got a boost when NPO Water4CapeTown NPO donated a 5 000 litre tank filled with non-potable water to their initiative.

Water4CapeTown aims to increase awareness about the need to value water and use it wisely.

In light of this, the drought and water scarcity, the initiative has donated tanks of water to drought-stricken communities and conducted water awareness campaigns in various areas.

Water4CapeTown’s Bongani Khuphe said their initiative was also aimed at teaching people how to recycle water.

He said the tanks are a useful way of storing water.

He urged people to collect water and put them in the tanks to keep the gardens alive.

“We can source water everywhere and reuse it. There are leaking pipes; such water can be collected and be put to good use. We can always come together as a country, take buckets and put water in the tanks. By so doing we can keep our gardens alive and conserve more water,” he said.

He stressed the importance of food gardens in the community.

Xolani Bangani, who has been running the Ikhaya micro-farming initiative, said he was grateful to receive the water tank for his garden.

“This is a great help for micro farmers. This will help us grow our gardens. We will collect and store water from the kitchens and anywhere else to recycle it,” he said.

He urged those who have water tanks to continue with the positive work they are doing for the community.

“This is a life-saving initiative. The gardens will be alive all the time. We have started to teach our young guys how to use water wisely. The aim for them is to help support existing projects and not to stop due to the drought crisis,” he said.