Johannesburg - Yes, it is true. According to a report by Unicef there are more people in sub-Saharan Africa with access to a mobile phone than the vital elixir of clean drinking water.
Let us not be mesmerised by the flowing tide of connectivity and the allure of digital waves. The need for communication and accessing information can never supersede hydration.
The death toll from the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, has risen to 20 souls. Like a tempest of devastation, this merciless affliction has cast its sombre shadow over the land.
According to authorities, no evidence of cholera bacteria has been found in the sources of water that have been tested so far from the gushing tankers delivering their precious cargo to the humble taps, and even the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant.
And they say this gives confidence to the likelihood that the cholera outbreak could be from a once-off contamination event, with the current cases being a result of secondary contamination from objects or surfaces that have the cholera bacteria or tertiary contamination when people become infected by others who already have cholera.
This is when we need to recall that South Africa recorded its first two cholera cases in February on the back of outbreaks in nearby Mozambique and Malawi.
However, we cannot overlook that for many years Hammanskraal residents have been subjected to undrinkable water. In 2019, the South African Human Rights Commission declared the water unfit for human consumption following an independent analysis by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Yes, it is true, in 2019 the City of Tshwane awarded a tender of more than R250 million for a refurbishment project at the Rooiwal plant that commenced and was never finished.
Yes, it is also true that the very same Rooiwal plant, like a deceitful river, has been discharging raw or semi-treated wastewater into the Apies River, the consequence is brown, slimy water far from the clarity and purity it should possess.
Therefore, it is a sobering truth that our government cannot escape the weight of responsibility for the tragic loss of 20 souls in Hammanskraal, regardless of the origins of the cholera outbreak, be it from Mozambique or Malawi.
By failing to address the persistent issues plaguing Hammanskraal's water supply, the government became complicit in the heartbreaking loss of innocent lives. The echoes of their negligence reverberate through the community, a haunting reminder of the price paid for their inaction.
For years, Hammanskraal has been showered with water unfit for consumption. The revelation by the South African Human Rights Commission in 2019, declaring the water unsafe, should have been a clarion call for urgent intervention.
The government's complicity in this tragedy is further accentuated by the knowledge that the very same Rooiwal plant has been discharging raw or semi-treated wastewater into the Apies River, the lifeline for the people of Hammanskraal. This abhorrent practice, akin to poisoning the well from which the community draws sustenance, has transformed their once-clear water into a brown and slimy reminder of neglect.