South Africa’s water challenges and dilapidated infrastructure could mean that cholera is here to stay.
This is especially a posibility in places like Bloemfontein where sewerage runs along and in many streets, and wastewater plants were non-functional for a prolonged time.
According to Dr Patricks Voua Otomo, head of the Ecotoxicology Research Laboratory and subject head of Zoology and Entomology in the faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), we remain at risk of recurring and isolated outbreaks until the country’s failing water systems are addressed.
He warned that as long as the country’s wastewater treatment systems are in a poor to critical state, they pose significant risks to public health and the environment.
“Our water systems are connected, and in South Africa one of our greatest challenges is poorly treated wastewater systems and highly polluted rivers. The current cholera outbreak is not happening in peculiar regions. It is in areas where people consume questionable drinking water,” he said.
Otomo said that cholera is one of the most vicious threats to public health and an indicator of inequality, because bacteria may continue to thrive if the current conditions remain unchanged.
“All it takes to get cholera is a drop of contaminated water in your system. In a country like ours, where many people experience water scarcity and rely on unsanitary water sources, they are vulnerable to being easily exposed to bacterial diseases such as cholera.”
Water treatment plants in South Africa require urgent intervention.
According to Qondile Khedama, spokesperson for the Mangaung-metro, the multi-million rand grant received from the National Treasury is set to improve the metro’s wastewater treatment system after vandalism and cable theft left some of these plants in dire condition and others non-functional.
The project launched in April and is expected to conclude by April 2025.
In a newsletter engineer Kelebogile Wolf said apart from repairs that will be done, all the plants will receive secuirty upgrades that will go a long way in combating cable theft.
