MiWay donates animal feed to drought-stricken farmers

MiWay Insurance handed out 25 tonnes of animal feed to around 50 farmers in the drought-ravaged Northern Cape on Sunday. (EDS: 24 November 2019).

The 48 bales of Lucerne had been salvaged from an accident outside Bethlehem in the Free State on 9 November. Instead of selling or destroying it, MiWay decided to donate it to farmers in the drought-stricken Northern Cape who have been relying on donations for the past several years to keep afloat.

“We decided, as soon as we were notified that most bales were still intact after the accident, that we wanted to make a difference and help farmers battling this terrible drought,” said Christiaan Steyn, Head of MiWay Business Insurance. “So, we organised for the load to be salvaged and to be transported to Olifantshoek in the Northern Cape where it could be donated to those in need.”

MiWay solicited the services of Truck and Cargo Salvage Solutions – who salvaged the goods and transported it to a storage facility for free – and Droogte Hulp, an NGO established to help farmers battle the drought, to transport the Lucerne at no charge to the Northern Cape.

“It took quite a bit of planning, but the Lucerne arrived in Olifantshoek late Saturday night and farmers started collecting early Sunday morning. Between 46 and 53 farmers benefitted,” said Albert Joubert, MiWay’s Assessing Manager who proposed the donation and coordinated the effort.

Anne-Marie van Zyl, a small-scale farmer from Olifantshoek who helped Droogte Hulp identify beneficiaries, said the farmers are overwhelmed by the donation.

“I cried when the truck arrived with the Lucerne and some of the farmers who were waiting to help offload the truck did as well,” she said. “This means more than you can ever know. It literally will help some farmers to survive, even if it’s just one more day.”

Van Zyl said one farmer called the relief “manna from heaven” and another said it had fortified their will to persevere.

“Everyone who helped make this happen [MiWay, Truck and Cargo] is simply amazing. There are no words to express what this means to us; it has lifted our mood,” said Van Zyl.