Dubai Telegraph - Cholera-hit S.African town blames govt for deadly outbreak

EUR -
AED 3.896782
AFN 71.970942
ALL 98.005181
AMD 410.245014
ANG 1.910392
AOA 969.150107
ARS 1058.535585
AUD 1.625105
AWG 1.911243
AZN 1.804916
BAM 1.952226
BBD 2.140282
BDT 126.668083
BGN 1.954125
BHD 0.39988
BIF 3130.34894
BMD 1.060918
BND 1.418709
BOB 7.350404
BRL 6.098794
BSD 1.060009
BTN 89.509273
BWP 14.421276
BYN 3.468912
BYR 20793.984215
BZD 2.136589
CAD 1.480871
CDF 3043.772641
CHF 0.937002
CLF 0.037907
CLP 1045.969635
CNY 7.661842
COP 4706.760764
CRC 542.432423
CUC 1.060918
CUP 28.114315
CVE 110.062449
CZK 25.385671
DJF 188.763289
DKK 7.459582
DOP 63.876059
DZD 141.570939
EGP 52.207642
ETB 131.000325
FJD 2.400856
GBP 0.832847
GEL 2.906642
GHS 17.277204
GMD 75.853327
GNF 9135.746941
GTQ 8.190926
GYD 221.749817
HKD 8.252734
HNL 26.751282
HTG 139.425239
HUF 411.004238
IDR 16737.512871
ILS 3.989583
INR 89.539798
IQD 1388.583814
IRR 44669.934186
ISK 147.520817
JMD 168.439542
JOD 0.752299
JPY 164.527633
KES 137.06364
KGS 91.448653
KHR 4295.439124
KMF 488.419938
KRW 1493.349953
KWD 0.326234
KYD 0.883299
KZT 526.01683
LAK 23242.540542
LBP 94922.679318
LKR 309.967089
LRD 199.802298
LSL 19.152137
LTL 3.132613
LVL 0.641738
LYD 5.135839
MAD 10.515649
MDL 18.974154
MGA 4955.161109
MKD 61.501816
MMK 3445.818857
MOP 8.49301
MRU 42.123861
MUR 50.064526
MVR 16.402021
MWK 1837.721918
MXN 21.861851
MYR 4.72746
MZN 67.819132
NAD 19.151596
NGN 1778.681478
NIO 39.010598
NOK 11.769899
NPR 143.222523
NZD 1.790898
OMR 0.408483
PAB 1.059939
PEN 4.005911
PGK 4.258364
PHP 62.296049
PKR 294.599601
PLN 4.351472
PYG 8282.226373
QAR 3.864488
RON 4.975918
RSD 116.986352
RUB 103.700317
RWF 1454.705134
SAR 3.986063
SBD 8.859994
SCR 14.916358
SDG 638.142533
SEK 11.580918
SGD 1.420892
SLE 24.18896
SOS 605.819355
SRD 37.381452
STD 21958.851549
SVC 9.275193
SZL 19.142853
THB 36.855747
TJS 11.267165
TMT 3.713211
TND 3.332367
TOP 2.48477
TRY 36.47689
TTD 7.203151
TWD 34.468683
TZS 2825.997726
UAH 43.903187
UGX 3894.795581
USD 1.060918
UYU 44.68818
UZS 13571.98253
VES 47.606636
VND 26894.260197
XAF 654.789004
XCD 2.867183
XDR 0.798576
XOF 654.789004
XPF 119.331742
YER 264.990671
ZAR 19.19911
ZMK 9549.525686
ZMW 28.858523
ZWL 341.615022
  • RBGPF

    59.3400

    59.34

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0500

    7.11

    -0.7%

  • SCS

    0.0200

    13.67

    +0.15%

  • CMSC

    -0.1800

    24.54

    -0.73%

  • NGG

    -1.2400

    62.9

    -1.97%

  • RIO

    -1.4000

    61.2

    -2.29%

  • BTI

    0.0900

    35.24

    +0.26%

  • AZN

    0.4000

    65.19

    +0.61%

  • BP

    -0.7600

    28.16

    -2.7%

  • GSK

    -0.8300

    35.52

    -2.34%

  • RELX

    -1.2100

    46.59

    -2.6%

  • BCC

    -2.0100

    141.13

    -1.42%

  • CMSD

    -0.2100

    24.75

    -0.85%

  • VOD

    -0.8500

    8.47

    -10.04%

  • BCE

    -0.1600

    27.69

    -0.58%

  • JRI

    -0.3000

    13.22

    -2.27%

Cholera-hit S.African town blames govt for deadly outbreak
Cholera-hit S.African town blames govt for deadly outbreak / Photo: Michele Spatari - AFP

Cholera-hit S.African town blames govt for deadly outbreak

A grieving family gathers in their yard in a town near Pretoria, the epicentre of a deadly cholera outbreak, mourning the death of a relative, one of 17 people killed by the disease in just days.

Text size:

They are seething with anger, blaming the government in Africa's most advanced economy for failing to solve their perennial water woes.

Kagiso Sadiki cannot remember a time when Hammanskraal's tap water was fit for consumption. His 53-year-old cousin Michael Sadiki died within a week of falling ill.

The tap water is brown and dirty, the 37-year-old told AFP.

"Everybody has the right to have clean water," he said, visibly distressed, sitting under a lemon tree.

"I hope my cousin's death is not in vain."

South Africa recorded its first two cholera cases in February on the back of outbreaks in nearby Mozambique and Malawi, the two most severely affected countries in 2023, according to the UN.

On Wednesday, the provincial department of health said since last week, 165 people have visited a local hospital in Hammanskraal with symptoms including diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting.

Lab tests have confirmed two dozen cases of cholera and 17 people have died, the department said.

The infection is showing "a very high fatality rate," said Sandile Buthelezi, health ministry director general.

- 'Overburdened' -

The deadly disease is contracted from a bacterium generally transmitted through contaminated food or water.

Sadiki said his cousin died after being turned away from a local hospital due to a shortage of beds and staff.

Nurses "are overburdened (and) are not given enough support," Mogomotsi Seleke, a spokesman for nursing union DENOSA told AFP outside the Jubilee Hospital, which is handling most of the cases.

"Nurses only have two hands... and when they are not enough at some point patients suffer," he said.

Anger at the government is widespread and growing in the small town 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Pretoria where residents battle power and water outages for several hours a day.

Many residents are unemployed and spend their time sitting outside homes made from mud or sheet metal, behind barbed wire fences.

The cholera outbreak is a symptom of dysfunctional wastewater treatment, poor piping infrastructure and municipal graft, locals say.

- 'We don't have water' -

Following public outcry, the government announced it would probe the causes of the Hammanskraal water crisis.

Sitting legs crossed, Sadiki described how his cousin developed diarrhoea and constant vomiting before he quickly became weak, unable to walk, sleep or wash himself.

After being rushed to hospital a second time, he died in the emergency room.

The water crisis is "a problem that could have been solved a long time ago," a frustrated Sadiki said.

He added that the family was struggling to raise money for the funeral and now "has to bear the brunt".

Municipal authorities have urged Hammanskraal residents not to drink tap water, promising that tankers would distribute water, but residents say these only show up once or twice a week.

"We don't have water, we don't have houses... we have nothing," said Rosa Kovani, collecting water from a tanker on a dirt road in a neighbouring township.

With a baby strapped on her back and a water bucket in her hand, the 61-year-old said she had lost hope of seeing a tap installed at her house, a shack with sheet-iron walls.

Some have capitalised on the water crisis, setting up shop to sell purified water, which many residents cannot afford.

Cholera has seen a global resurgence since 2021 after a decade of steady decline, according to the UN, which this week warned one billion people in 43 countries were at risk.

X.Wong--DT