A large delivery truck filled to the brim with containers of water, blankets and food have left the Chery South Africa head office in Johannesburg, bound for KwaZulu-Natal.

The shipment of water in easily transportable containers, blankets and food will be delivered at various Chery dealerships in Durban and surrounds. From here, the dealers will use their own delivery infrastructure, staff and even customers to deliver water to needy communities, old age homes and clinics.

“This is the first of hopefully many such initiatives by Chery, its dealers and staff. We hope it acts as a small but powerful gesture of our intention to be a very active and supportive part of the society in every town and city that we are active in and of civil society as a whole in South Africa,” says Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery South Africa.

Liu explains that the Chery South Africa team sprang into action after reading about the continued lack of clean water in parts of KwaZulu-Natal worst affected by the floods that started on 8 April this year.

“We realised that we have a network of over 60 dealers and an even-wider network of partners, suppliers, colleagues and friends that we could call upon. So, with seed donation from Chery South Africa, we invited everyone in our network to join the cause and they truly surprised us with their speed of action and selfless generosity,” says Jay Jay Botes, National Sales Manager of Chery South Africa.

Since the call went out to its network a few days ago, Chery has managed to purchase over R300 000 in purified water and ship it to KwaZulu-Natal. In this, it is supported by its main logistics partner VDS, who offered one of their largest trucks and fuel for free to ship the water to Chery dealers in the province.

Chery will coordinate the logistics for the water deliveries from its head office, where it will be in contact with each of the Chery dealerships in the province to help with deliveries.
Each dealer has already identified less fortunate individuals and institutions, such as old age homes and clinics to deliver the water to, using their fleet of Chery vehicles and those of customers who have kindly offered to help.

The initiative has also received the support of Chery Global, who immediately recognised it as a worthy cause in line with its global With Chery, With Love campaign. In South Africa, this campaign is run by Bianca van Staden, National Marketing and Brand Manager of Chery South Africa.

Chery actively encourages, and supports, campaigns of active citizenship and good old neighbourly love in every country in which it is active. Chery customers are encouraged to share their actions, ideas and opportunities with Chery, using the #WithCheryWithLove tag.

“The last couple of years have reminded all of us of the importance of being a good member of society and to help where we can. If this water delivery campaign is anything to go by, then South Africans have this neighbourly spirit in spades!” says Van Staden.

Any Chery owner who would like to support any future water deliveries to KwaZulu-Natal are invited to make contact with Chery on their website (chery.co.za), their social media channels or chat to their local dealer for more information.