By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
City of Tshwane Executive Mayor Cilliers Brink has maintained that the Tshwane municipality is still making efforts to establish the source of the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal.
Speaking at a National Press Club event in Pretoria on Friday, Brink says tests on water supply from the taps show no cholera contamination.
“The number of patients who report cholera symptoms have, according to all indications, started to decline. But, national, provincial and local governments are still to determine the source of the cholera. Even if tap water is not the source of the cholera the outbreak and loss of human life has highlighted, like no other event before, the plight of the people of Hammanskraal.”
Brink explained that the tests done by the city, to determine the quality of the water, have been double-checked by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
“At the outset, I asked for the city to approach the CSIR an important partner of ours to check our test results on the Themba supply area, the part of Hammanskraal supplied by water from the city. They have done preliminary tests which confirm our own, no cholera was detected in Themba tap water.
“The CSIR report stresses that further tests have to be done and we continue to cooperate with the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Department of Health.”
“The issue of cholera is distinct from Hammanskraal until we make that connection, and we thought to dedicate a team to inform the public of efforts to co-ordinate efforts.”
At least 32 people are known to have died from cholera-related illnesses with the most deaths recorded in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.
Government has announced short-term interventions that are currently being implemented to address the water and sanitation challenges in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.
The interventions were announced during a briefing held at the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant in Hammanskraal on Thursday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa; the Ministers of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, Health Dr Joe Phaahla, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Thembi Nkadimeng; Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Tshwane Mayor Brink, among others, visted Rooiwal.
During the briefing, Mchunu announced that between August 2023 and March 2024, an improved wastewater technology solution will be installed at the Rooiwal plant, which will treat the sewage better and increase the quality of discharged effluent into Apies River.
This will reduce the levels of E. coli in the treated sewage.
Mchunu said government will also improve drinking water provision to the residents of Hammanskraal, and Magalies Water will install a portable water treatment plant (called a ‘package plant’) at its Klipdrift Water Treatment Works near Hammanskraal.
“This will produce 30 – 40 Ml/day [megalitre per day] of treated drinking water, which will be fed into the Hammanskraal piped water distribution system. There is an existing connection between the Klipdrift Water Treatment Works and the piped water distribution system in Hammanskraal.
“The package plant will be implemented in a phased approach with 10Ml/day at a time. Magalies Water will start installing the plant from July 2023 and it will be completed by March 2024. By the time it is completed, it will provide sufficient drinking water to supply the residents of Hammanskraal with drinking water from their taps,” Mchunu explained.
When the package plant is completed, Mchunu said the City of Tshwane will be able to stop supplying residents with water from the Temba Water Treatment Works, until the quality of water from Temba meets the required standards.
Watch Live in the video below:
Video Courtes SABC.