Cause of deadly cholera outbreak ‘still unknown’

The source of contamination which led to the cholera outbreak in May – which claimed at least 43 lives in Gauteng, Free State and Limpopo – is still unknown.

Department of health spokesperson Foster Mohale said they recorded 20 cholera deaths and 27 suspected related deaths.

SA’s cholera outbreak

Yesterday, Water Research Commission research manager Dr Eunice Ubomba-Jaswa said despite multiple tests done, the cause of the outbreak or the point of contamination were still unknown.

Ubomba-Jaswa said favourable factors that may have contributed to the spread of cholera include the above-average rainfall experienced this year and the warmer air temperatures.

READ: SA records another imported case of cholera

Ubomba-Jaswa said V cholerae was detected only once in the first sampling downstream of Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, last month.

“V cholerae was not detected from upstream of the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) down to the Leeukraal Dam,” she said.

Apies River

Ubomba-Jaswa said downstream of Rooiwal, the presence of salmonella, shigella and extremely high concentrations of E. coli were detected in the Apies River that exceeded the South African water quality guidelines target range for direct contact recreational/cultural/religious use of the water.

“The water presents risks to communities,” she warned.

Virtual Consulting Engineers director Jac Wilsenach said they also looked at the WWTP in the area and said the Rooiwal WWTP was neglected and dysfunctional.

“The case of Rooiwal is sad and dates back to 1980s. The post, past and present administrations need to take accountability,” he said.

Dumping sites

Wilsenach said during the probe into the cause of the outbreak, the panel looked at satellite images of the area and identified 99 illegal dumping sites.

Some of these sites had nappies which had high possibility for faecal contamination and found numerous illegal dumping sites and sewer overflow.

WaterCAN executive manager Dr Ferrial Adam said it was important to hold people accountable because sewage pollution was killing river ecosystems.

Adam said WaterCAN opened a criminal complaint against the City of Joburg, the former acting municipal manager Bryne Maduka and the recently appointed municipal manager Floyd Brink over their failure to address the ongoing sewage pollution.

“On Freedom Day last year, the generator at the Goudkoppies WWTW broke down, so sewage inflow had to be rerouted to nearby Bushkoppies WWTW during power cuts,” she said.

Adam said less than two weeks later, cable theft at Goudkoppies and still no generator meant that all inflow was rerouted to Bushkoppies, which could not cope.