When attempting to motivate someone who is embarking on a new venture and who may be experiencing some setbacks, a friend will often quote such well-known adages as: “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow”. There can be few better examples of the latter assertion than a venture begun in the ‘70s by a Groblersdal farmer named Johannes Joubert. When, for his own use and later for a neighbour, he constructed his first water storage vessels, he could have had no idea that the JoJo tank, whose name is formed by the first two letters of his first name and surname, would eventually become a multi-million Rand business.

Originally manufactured from fibreglass, in the attempt to create a more robust vessel that would better meet the needs of the agricultural sector and later, the chemical industry, the company switched to the use of polyethylene in 1981. Their main use remains that of storing water, and while obviously important to businesses, such as plant nurseries, smallholdings, and fish farms, the years have seen a growing demand for the JoJo tank from homeowners.

The first big surge in the sale of these vessels occurred in 2012 when the country became the scene of one of the most severe and widespread droughts in its history. Not only did the nation’s farmers rush to buy even more of them, but they were joined by businesses and households all desperate for a means to overcome the problems posed by water shortages and rationing. For them, the JoJo tank provided an affordable and effective means to harvest rainwater whenever it was available and to store it as a hedge against the dry days ahead when municipal supplies might be cut to maintain reserves.

Four years later, a major distributor with 300 outlets reported that its sales of the product had increased by 500% during the five-year period ending in 2016. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the drought which, in 2018, appeared destined to see Cape Town’s taps run dry, resulted in yet another big surge in the demand for JoJo tanks.

The fact that the threat of climate change is a real one can no longer be denied. Furthermore, that the Cape Town scenario is destined to be repeated both in the Mother City and in cities and towns across South Africa also seems inevitable. To contain this situation, it will not only require more conservative use by consumers, but also additional sources, such as desalination plants to boost the nation’s dwindling and overburdened water reserves.

Like the millions of overseas protestors who have recently been seen waving their slogans while converging on their government’s offices, the JoJo tank has become a symbol of South Africa’s fight against the life-threatening consequences of global warming. Their familiar corrugated surfaces and distinctive colours are to be seen everywhere, a clear message that more and more South Africans are beginning to accept that each one of us must share the responsibility for water conservation.

While one should not overlook the value of these vessels in other applications, such as chemical processing and wastewater recycling, each drop of rainwater stored in a JoJo tank is helping to sustain both the nation and the planet.