According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, the Western Cape currently has the highest recorded number of Covid-19 cases in South Africa on the other hand,the forth largest province is also periodically affected by severe droughts.
Foods and beverage company, Nestlé, has donated more than 200 000 litres of potable water to Herbertsdale in the Western Cape, as part of Covid-19 relief efforts. Bruno Olierhoek, Nestlé chairman and Managing Director for the East and Southern African Regions said the donation was made to not only ensure fresh drinking water, but to enable community members to follow Covid-19 preventative measures, such as hand washing.
Herbertsdale is one of several towns in the area that is periodically affected by the drought. “This drought impact then prompted us to remodel our Nestlé dairy factory which is located in this town, to become self-sufficient in water as much as possible by using water recovered from the milk evaporation process.The factory now has excellent, quality recycled-water and is even able to generate energy from the process,” said Olierhoek.
Mossel Bay mayor, Harry Levendal, thanked Nestlé for the willingness to assist the community during this difficult time.”By assisting us in delivering a most critical resource like clean water, with your milk tankers during this challenging Covid-19 period, just re-confirms that Nestlé is taking the communities at heart,” said Levendal.
