Probe into source of cholera outbreak ‘underway’
The Department of Water and Sanitation says investigations are underway to determine the source of the country's cholera outbreak.
The disease has claimed the lives of 23 people in Gauteng's Hammanskraal region and another in the Free State.
The department's Wisane Mavasa says while they're still trying to identify the source of the bacterial disease, their experts believe it's linked to water pollution.
“Technical teams from the Department of Water and Sanitation, and the provincial and national Department of Health as well as relevant municipalities are carrying out water quality tests at distribution points and at water treatment works in areas where people have become infected.
“To date, the original source of the cholera infection has not been located. However, it is highly likely that the cholera outbreak which started in Hammanskraal in Tshwane is related to the pollution of water sources in the area from the City’s Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works upstream of Hammanskraal, which has not been well-maintained for many years, and which has insufficient capacity to deal with the volume of wastewater entering the works.”
