Cape Town - An investigation has been launched into the cause of the escalating cholera crisis in Hammanskraal, which had claimed 15 lives as of Monday afternoon.
The Department of Water and Sanitation and provincial health departments have set up a command centre with the aim of stopping the spread of the infectious waterborne disease in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, after five additional deaths were reported at the Jubilee District Hospital.
On Monday, Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister David Mahlobo announced the number of fatalities had risen to 15. As a result of the escalating crisis, the government had established a command centre to find an immediate solution and avoid further deaths, he said.
Multi-disciplinary teams had been established to focus on different aspects, including the health sector’s capacity to curb the spread, while at the same time conducting scanning to ensure it was contained in one area.
“We have a team dealing with scanning as there are concerns of mobility with a number of people moving around. We need to contain the situation so that neighbouring provinces and other urban areas are not affected.”
Mahlobo said in addition to efforts to curb and contain the situation, a formal investigation was under way to establish the cause of the outbreak.
“The investigation will determine what caused this water contamination and whether there has been any negligence on the part of any individual or institution.
A team of experts has been set up, led by two deputy directors-general in the Department of Water and Sanitation, who are engineers.”
The investigation would look at all the water sources used by the Tshwane council to supply water to residents, including Rand Water and the Magalies system.
Meanwhile, residents would be provided with trucked-in water.
“We need to arrest this incident, and we are hopeful that working with all the structures and community leaders, we should be able to avoid any further deaths,” Mahlobo said.
The first cholera cases were reported in early February – two sisters who had travelled from Johannesburg to Malawi to attend a funeral and had returned by bus on January 30.
Both developed symptoms on their return to Johannesburg, Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink was due to join the leadership at the hospital and outline the City’s plans for assisting, but he was turned away by disgruntled and angry residents.
Despite the refusal by residents to allow the mayor to join the visit to the hospital, Tshwane Health MMC Rina Marx said a unit had been dispatched by the City to assist with screening at the hospital, with peer educators going door-to-door to advise residents on how to keep their water safe and clean.
The City of Tshwane said the results from sampling testing taken from multiple sites around Temba and Hammanskraal indicated zero cholera from the piped water supply.
Although no cholera was detected, this did not make the water safe to drink as it was heavily treated with chlorineaid. The city had also widened its scope of testing and had been interviewing patients to assist in tracing the source of the contamination.
Cape Times