The Hammanskraal cholera outbreak should be treated as a national emergency, says Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink. He adds that it is also a humanitarian and human rights crisis:
, the dysfunctional wastewater treatment system in the area contributed to the bacterial outbreak that killed at least 15 people in Pretoria.
The area’s water-related health emergency has existed for more than a decade. Brink adds that the metro simply does not have the capacity to combat the problem. ‘We must admit that the City of Tshwane cannot do this by ourselves,’ he says. ‘We have to urgently look at ways to cooperate with the Department of Water Affairs, with private partners, in order to get the capital to do those upgrades because doing them over the course of five or six years will simply not be sufficient.
David Mahlobo, deputy minister of water and sanitation, says it is important to find the source of the disease in order to prevent it from spreading. ‘In a number of communities where these incidents have happened, we know that there are static tanks that are posted in various communities. We will also have to check the issues of health and hygiene and deal with those particular issues.’
While most of the cases have been concentrated in Hammanskraal, the Tembisa water purification plant tested negative for traces of the cholera bacteria. The plant supplies water to the area. Furthermore, 19 bulk water supply sites, including reservoirs, schools and hydrants have also tested negative.in which it confirmed that it will ramp up the provision of water tankers to Hammanskraal following the outbreak.
The department will now increase the provision of water tankers from three days per week to five days per week. It also states that the city is still awaiting test results from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases to determine the actual source of contamination.Take a break for two nights in Wine Nirvana in Wellington for R2 499 . Get it
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