The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber has in the last two years established an Adopt a School initiative, which has the full support of its member companies who are assisting with fixing faulty or damaged plumbing at identified schools in the Metro.
This forms part of the city-wide water preservation efforts and to date, 75 schools have been adopted and work at 53% of these has been completed. Alongside this, the Chamber has also driven its Adopt a Leak initiative through its Water Task Team, which has saved the Metro 1.5 million litres of water a day.
Water leaks at schools contribute 10% to the Bay’s total losses and even worse, the city’s dam levels remain severely under resourced due to the prolonged drought.
Behind the success of both initiatives has been the hardwork and selfless dedication of the Aspen Pharmacare Group team led by Christiaan Theron, the company’s Executive for SA Operations, and his colleague Basil Mugwagwa, an Engineer Manager. Mugwagwa serves as the Lead for the Water Task Team and both have been instrumental in the adoption of nine schools by Aspen.
Due to the city’s water supply challenges, some schools have experienced severe water shortages, which have negatively impacted the learners and staff members not being able to access potable water or use ablution facilities.
Through the Chamber’s initiative, this has helped to restore the dignity of pupils as they now have access to water supply and can make use of operational ablution facilities.
The team received a Water Crisis Award for being instrumental in leading and driving the Adopt a Leak initiative.
“This team has done an incredible amount of work in ensuring that these initiatives become a success and achieve their intended impact. They have consistently shown commitment and dedication and went beyond their call of duty. For that, I would like to extend our deep appreciation as the Chamber for their continued support and selflessness,” says Denise van Huyssteen, chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber.
Basil Mugwangwa says an increased effort to make a sustainable difference in our local communities, Aspen SA Operations is proud to be associated with environmentally responsible processes such as the Business Chamber’s Adopt a Leak initiative.
“It is through this partnership that we can live our ethos of Healthcare. We Care, by addressing the water supply challenges in the Metro and providing learners with better access to clean water and good hygiene solutions, thus supporting the future of our young people. Sincere thanks to the Business Chamber and to the SA Operations teams who dedicated their time to this initiative.
“We hope that our efforts will act as a catalyst for businesses and residents to play their part by addressing water leaks within their premises,” he says.
