President Cyril Ramaphosa has said he will visit Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, where a cholera outbreak has claimed the lives of 23 people. The Department of Health announced on Friday evening that the number of fatalities had risen, while 75 patients were being treated with diarrhoeal diseases in the Jubilee District Hospital. Fifteen of the latter were confirmed cholera cases, which Ramaphosa said was worrisome. The City of Tshwane Metro has not been able to contain the spread of the bacteria due to its inability to identify the source. The government has set up a “command centre” to try to combat the outbreak, with the City of Tshwane cooperating with the Departments of Health, Water and Sanitation, Social Development and others.
Four of the five samples tested negative of cholera and E. coli bacteria, but one set of the results recorded the following: “Coliform count = >2419 E. coli count = >2419”. The Colilert system used by the City of Tshwane to count up to 2419 CFU/100ml has caused a high risk of negative health effects on the general population. Outa conducted independent tests to determine if there were any microbiological contaminants that point to E.
Coli or faecal coliforms that could be linked to the cholera outbreak. The City’s spokesperson Selby Mokaba said that all of the tests have concluded that there are no microbiological contaminants that point to E. Coli or faecal coliforms that can be linked to the cholera outbreak. Cogta Minister Thembi Nkadimeng came under fire in the National Assembly while delivering her department’s budget for 2023/24 financial year. MPs expressed concern over the government’s failure to address the long-standing water crisis, which residents have been complaining about for nearly a decade.
The Hammanskraal situation is a reminder of the corrupt, incompetent and lack of visionary government in Tshwane. To address the increasing number of people with diarrhoeal disease symptoms, the government announced the establishment of a field hospital in Kanana, Hammanskraal. Six temporary tents have been set up to provide oral hydration or intravenous hydration on the spot, and the most critical patients are immediately taken to hospitals in Tshwane for further management and addition.
