The City of Tshwane has received the results from sampling testing taken from multiple sites around Temba and Hammanskraal pertaining to tracing the cholera outbreak.
Multiple reservoirs, fire hydrants, primary schools, clinics and other locations that receive water from Temba Water Treatment Plant were tested. All of these tests have conclusively indicated that there are no microbiological contaminants that point to E. Coli or faecal coliforms that can be linked to the cholera outbreak.
This means that the water that is being distributed via the City’s bulk water distribution network in the area does not have cholera present in it. This does not make this water safe to drink as it is heavily treated with chlorine. Various points where water tankers draw their supply have also been tested.
The City has widened the scope of its testing and has been interviewing various patients to assist in tracing the source of the contamination. We will continue to keep affected residents updated on further test results as and when they become available.
It is critically important that residents who have symptoms present themselves early at their nearest clinic or hospital in order to be treated. Please do not wait until you feel worse. We urge all residents in the area to take extra precaution with good hygiene practices.
Below is a list of sites where samples were tested and results came out negative for cholera from 18 to 21 May 2023:
- Adam Masebe Secondary School
- Babelegi Reservoir Klipdrift
- Eersterus Hydrant
- House 143 Stellenbosch Temba
- Hydrant from Magalies
- Jana Laubscher, Brenner Mills, Hammanskraal West Reservoir
- Jubilee Hospital Tower
- Kanana Ward 49 Car Wash
- Kanana Ward 49 Zion CC
- KLT Automative 10th Street Admin Kitchen
- Mandela Mokonyama Primary School
- Renstown Reservoir, Temba
- Suurman Clinic
- Tanker Truck (registration plate known)
- Temba NW, Jubilee Hospital Tower
- Temba NW, Leboneng Primary School
- Temba NW, Manyathi High School
- Temba NW, SAPS College
- Temba Oustad B, Demploy Training Centre
The City will intensify its food safety campaign, which includes, but is not limited to, how to hygienically prepare, transport and store food in the Hammanskraal area.
While the water supplied by the City in Hammanskraal is not potable, the City has been providing potable water through 52 water tankers to informal settlements three times a week. The number of days has been increased to five times a week following the cholera outbreak, except on Thursdays and Sundays, until the end of May 2023.
In addition, the City provides 44 water trucks daily to formal areas in Region 2. All this is done to ensure that communities have safe drinking water.
Cholera is a bacterial disease usually spread through contaminated water. It causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration. If left untreated, it can be fatal in a matter of hours, even in previously healthy people.
The City of Tshwane would like to reiterate its appeal to the communities in Hammanskraal and surrounding areas to refrain from using water from taps for drinking purposes.
Outbreak response teams are on the ground conducting surveillance monitoring, sampling and field investigations. The City is eagerly awaiting the confirmatory test results from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases to determine the actual source of contamination.
The City would like to encourage residents in the affected areas to regularly wash the containers they use to draw water from the water tankers with bleach and to boil water drawn from other sources before drinking it. Communities are also urged not to conduct religious activities, such as baptisms, in rivers or streams.
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