Johannesburg - Humanitarian organisation Gift of the Givers is sending a consignment of bottled water from Gauteng to the Western Cape in preparation for Day Zero.
Day Zero refers to the day when the City of Cape Town will be forced to turn off most of the taps and every resident will have to queue for 25 litres of water per day.
It is calculated based on knowing how much water is in the six major dams that feed Cape Town and the Western Cape Water Supply System, and knowing how much water is being used by the city’s residents, agriculture as well as the amount evaporating out of the dam.
Day Zero has recently been moved to April 12, 2018.
Gift of the Givers has confirmed that the collection of 5 litre bottled water had already commenced at more than 70 collection points throughout South Africa.
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The loading of the first two trucks of bottled water at Gift of the Givers' Logistics Centre at Bramley, Johannesburg, commenced at 6am on Monday.
The water will be delivered to the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) military base at Fort Ikapa, Goodwood, Cape Town.
"All the water will be stockpiled in SANDF military bases in Western Cape to be distributed at the most appropriate time," the organisation said.
Other planned strategies revealed by the organisation include the drilling of boreholes at hospitals and schools and the re-activation of existing non-functional boreholes dependent on the state of the aquifers, the setting up of a large number of JoJo tanks in strategic locations and the distribution of hand sanitisers and wet wipes.
"A key aspect of the intervention is the sourcing of pure, tested, clean drinking water from various springs and delivery of that in water tankers to JoJo tanks.
"A list of institutions in urgent need of water, including homes for the elderly, orphanages, homes for the physically and mentally challenged will be compiled and water delivered to them."
Gift of the Givers appealed for cooperation and support from corporates, government departments and the public at large to "enhance its capability to intervene meaningfully.
It further added that while Transnet will be engaged to provide trains for transporting water from all parts of South Africa, shipping companies for transport from Durban harbour to Cape Town and road transporters urged to provide any space on their trucks heading Cape Town.