A call to Gift of the Givers by MUT has provided a much-needed relief from water-related problems that has been exaggerated by the scorching heat that continues to bake eThekwini Municipality and have exerted a strangled hold on the University. On 15 February 2024, MUT received 10 pallets of water which amounts to 40 boxes of five litres of water. Mbali Mkhize, Senior Director: Marketing and Communications, said: “This time Gift of the Givers has outdone themselves, more visibly because the supply will go a long way in lessening the use of water from our reserves. We have been told that our reserves must be kept at least over a three- bar limit. Indeed, saving water goes hand in hand with the purpose of the EnergyWaterFoodClimate Nexus Summit, which MUT will be hosting in collaboration with The US’s Florida Agricultural and mechanical University (FAMU) in July this year. One of the primary areas of focus for the summit will be how to deal with the water that is scarce. The time has come for South Africans to recognise that South Africa is essentially a dry country, and there its water should be preserved, and be used with great care”.
Mkhize said during the summit, learners and students from different schools and universities, will take centre stage in solving wide-ranging challenges faced by the nexus of energy, food, water, and climate. They will participate in a “Why hack” project and bring some of the exhibitions as part of a tech- technology exhibition centre”, said Mkhize. Mkhize’s department is at the forefront of enhancing stakeholder relationships and has firmed up relationships with the Gift of the Givers to a point that when various crises hit the University, the Gift of the Givers is always a first port of call. “They never disappoint; we are grateful to Mr Rayhaan Muhammad Sooliman, who is always our first port of call as not only the Foundation’s Operations Director, but is also the son of Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founding Father of Gift of the Givers”, said Mkhize. “We are grateful to all the Gift of the Givers employees who uphold the principles of the Foundation”, Mkhize added.