Hammanskraal residents urged not to drink tap water

HAMMANSKRAAL – The Department of Health said on Saturday that the country is experiencing an outbreak of Diarrhoeal disease or gastrointestinal infection, as well as a rising number of laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera. “Water supplied by the city in Hammanskraal is not potable, however, the city does provide drinkable water through 52 water tankers to informal settlements three times a week, and 40 water trucks to formal areas daily in Region 2,” the City of Tshwane said on Sunday.

City spokesperson Selby Bokaba says comprehensive tests will be done on the entire water distribution network. “Water samples have been collected in the affected areas and taken for tests and results are expected on Wednesday to determine the cause of the outbreak. Some of the cases reported are from the Moretele area, which is not supplied by the City of Tshwane.

“Officials from the city’s Health Department will descend on the affected areas again today to collect further samples from the water tankers that supply water to the informal settlements.” Bokaba has encouraged residents in the affected areas to regularly wash their containers they use to draw water from the water tankers with detergent, and to boil water drawn from other sources before drinking it. “The Outbreak Response Teams are on the ground conducting surveillance monitoring and doing sampling of the water. Communities are urged to present themselves to the nearest health facility immediately when they experience symptoms.

“Health facilities are on high alert to urgently attend to patients with symptoms. The city is eagerly awaiting the confirmatory test results from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases to establish the cause of the outbreak.” “Communities are also urged not to conduct religious activities such as baptism in the rivers or streams,” adds Bokaba. Meanwhile, Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko is expected to visit the Jubilee District Hospital in Hammanskraal after the recent outbreak of diarrhoeal disease cases in the area on Sunday.