Cape Town Motor Show opens with a splash
Cape Town’s second motor show starts with the arrival of 60,000-litres of water for water scant local charities
Motor shows are generally best known for their glitz, glamour and the excitement surrounding the unveiling of shiny new cars.
However, today was a slightly different story at the opening of the second annual Cape Town Motor Show with this heart-warming good deed.
Having hit international headlines for all the wrong reasons over the last few weeks and month, Cape Town continues to be blighted with drought and despite some respite of late with the ‘day zero’ date slipping back by several months, the prospect of taps becoming purely ornamental continues to be a real one.
To lessen the impact of the water restrictions on some charities, a collaboration of sorts swiftly formed to attempt to fill five trucks heading to the Cape Town motor show from Gauteng, with much-needed water supplies.
Orliflex Transport and Logistics company from Johannesburg, working with the organisers of the show, gained enough donations from schools and businesses in Pretoria and on the East Rand to make it become a reality.
As organiser of the Annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Truck Convoy, Orliflex is also using the initiative to help raise awareness for prostate cancer at the same time.
Packed to the hilt with bottled water, the trucks then embarked on an arduous 24-hour drive from Johannesburg to Cape Town to arrive in time for the start of the show, all from an idea that was percolated just two weeks ago.
On cue, four of the five lorries arrived at 3pm at GrandWest and were greeted by representatives of many of the grateful charities who will benefit from the donations and selfless work.
Sadly, one lorry broke down enroute, reducing the anticipated load from 75,000-litres to 60,000-litres of water.
The water will be distributed to vulnerable children, people with disabilities and animals in the Cape Town area, including: Home of Hope; Mdzananda Animal Clinic; Meg’s Mutts Rescue; Daisy Animal Rescue Trust; and Cheshire Homes’ Langa Home for people with severe and permanent disabilities.
Aisling Foley, Project Manager at Home of Hope explained that they look after and treat children with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, rehabilitate them and get many of their children placed into new families through adoption.
Daisy Animal Rescue Trust rescue hurt or abandoned animals, particularly from townships, where they find many dogs have been mistreated, often burnt by being coated in cooking oil and set alight. In one case, they got to a dog just in time after it had been starved and then buried alive.
They also recover many Pitbulls that have been stolen for the purposes of dog fighting.
Cheryl-Lyn Potgieter went on to explain the joy of bringing these dogs back to full health through its sterilisation and vaccination regime, before finding them new homes, even if she does bare the scars of being bitten on a few occasions.
BP Southern Africa kindly provided the fuel for trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town, free of charge.
The motor show is on for the rest of the weekend at GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World, coming to a close on Sunday 4th March.
