TEARS of joy rolled as excited members of the Nyonikayiphumuli Gardening Cooperative witnessed the launch of their irrigation project at eManquku in the Ndabayakhe Reserve on Friday.
With the community affected by crime and poverty, residents saw a glimpse of hope upon receiving the major boost towards their gardening project.
The state-of-the-art irrigation system was initiated and built by business owner and philanthropist David Bell of Petlands Sugar Estate, in a joint venture with Mpact Felixton and Aqua Nyoni.
The system will supply water to vegetable gardens of 30 members who are mainly senior women.
‘We work closely with the community and source our workforce here. This project is to empower the ladies who are trying to put food on the table for their families,’ said Bell.
‘We started the project in 2013 but there was a lot of work which needed to be done first before installations. We had to require permission from the area chief as well as acquire water rights which took us some time,’ he said.
According to Bell, the complete system took two months to build.
The construction included the building of a reservoir which stores 23 000 litres of water, an underground piping system and the installation of hydrometric valves.
‘Farmers will just connect their donated pipes onto the valves and they will have water to use in their gardens. This will mean they don’t have to worry about water. They will have water supply for their vegetables all year round,’ said Bell.
PHOTOS: Wellington Makwakwa
The lucky recipients also received pipes to connect onto the valves, fertiliser and seeds towards their gardens.
At the function was Quinton van Onselen of Petlands, Brain Smith of Mpact and Vincent Mthethwa of Aqua Nyoni, who worked closely with the community during the building phase of the project.
Chief Zungu and representatives of the tribal authority were also part of the VIPs attending the event.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
For news straight to your phone invite us:
WhatsApp – 072 069 4169
Instagram – zululand_observer
