S African Indians rally to aid drought-affected provinces

The Indian community in South Africa has sent 1.5 million litres of bottled water to three drought-hit provinces, prompting other communities, corporates and government to come forward to help the affected people, facing the country's worst drought in over 100 years.
Over the weekend, the efforts by the members of the community at mosques, community groups and shopping centres resulted in collection of 1.5 million litres of bottled water.
They sent 35 trucks with 1.5 million litres of bottled water to the provinces of North West, Free State and the Eastern Cape which were not having proper drinking water.
The efforts were part of 'Operation Hydrate', which was started by a group of young Indians on a WhatsApp platform.

The initiative prompted several companies, government and the Nelson Mandela Foundation to came forward and become part of it, said Yaseen Theba, spokesman for Operation Hydrate.
"Since we started the project early last month, the support has been overwhelming, with over Rand 61 million donated just last weekend," Theba said.

National Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane had announced that the National Lotteries Board had donated Rand 50 million to the project.
"One water company has also made available its stocks at cost price to help alleviate the water crisis," Theba said.
"All the vehicles in the six kilometre convoy that went from FNB Stadium on Friday were sponsored," he said.

South Africa is in the grip of its worst drought in over 100 years due to El Nino, with no immediate prospects of the situation abating.
The record-breaking temperatures in recent weeks have claimed several lives.
"While the country works on long-term strategies for drought relief and water provision, we felt that we could not just stand by and not look at some quick relief to avoid further loss of life just because the basic need for water was not being met," Theba said.