Media Release: Gift of the Givers comes to the rescue again – donating borehole equipment to assist Bitou

For immediate release
30 January 2026

Due to water restrictions and in some areas, shortages of potable water, Bitou Municipality recently reached out to the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Gift of the Givers, for assistance in refurbishing four existing boreholes to augment the municipality’s water supply system.

Following the discussions and assessment conducted, representatives from Gift of the Givers in collaboration with Shoprite on 28 January 2026 donated borehole equipment in order to refurbish the designated boreholes.

Executive Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Municipal Manager of Bitou together with Bitou Councillors Swart and Olivier, as well as Manager of Disaster Manager at Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), Gerhard Otto and representatives of the Bitou Infrastructure Department officially accepted the equipment on behalf of Bitou Municipality.

Subsequent to the donation, the Bitou Municipality already initiated the process to install the equipment within the next week to fast-track improved access to additional groundwater to provide some relief on current surface water abstraction, as well as to ensure additional emergency water supply in addition to the current water obtained from the town’s desalination plant.

Gerhard Otto during the handover said: “ Some actions and processes that can take governmental organisations three months to implement can be done by NGO’s and Faith-Based-Organisations in three days”. In addition, Otto highlighted that “this again is an example of how local government can work together with humanitarian organisations towards a common goal i.e. we need to avoid a DAY Zero and that means all hands-on deck”.

In conclusion Otto emphasised: “Every drop counts and while as a collective we aim to implement as many as possible water augmentation projects, we must work together to drive down consumption to a maximum of 50 liters of water per person per day”.

Feature Image: Representatives from Bitou and Garden Route District Municipalities, as well as Gift of the Givers during the official handover of the borehole equipment.

ENDS