Civic organisation groups AfriForum and Save Ngwathe say that water samples taken from the Vaal river in Parys have tested positive for cholera as they confirmed that a resident from Vredefort became the first person in the Free State to succumb to the disease.
The health department on Thursday confirmed the first cholera death in the Free State as the death toll in Gauteng rose to 21.
Officials from the various health departments and organisations will return to Jubilee regional hospital, where scores of people have been hospitalised with the bacterial disease.
AfriForum and Save Ngwathe in a statement released on Thursday explained that the water samples were taken on Tuesday.
"An accredited laboratory took water samples at different locations in this town under the supervision of a water specialist. The first water sample taken at the outlet of the sewage works was not contaminated with cholera. The second water sample taken from a residential house in Parys tested negative for cholera but was infected with E. coli.
"The third water sample was taken in the Vaal River, approximately 10 metres downstream from a manhole that has been pouring sewage into the river for some time. It is this very water sample that is contaminated with cholera and E. coli. AfriForum is still waiting for the official results, but the laboratory has already notified the organisation of the results due to the seriousness of the matter."
Cholera detected in Vaal river in Parys, say AfriForum and Save Ngwathe
Image: 123RF/ tashatuvango
Civic organisation groups AfriForum and Save Ngwathe say that water samples taken from the Vaal river in Parys have tested positive for cholera as they confirmed that a resident from Vredefort became the first person in the Free State to succumb to the disease.
The health department on Thursday confirmed the first cholera death in the Free State as the death toll in Gauteng rose to 21.
Officials from the various health departments and organisations will return to Jubilee regional hospital, where scores of people have been hospitalised with the bacterial disease.
AfriForum and Save Ngwathe in a statement released on Thursday explained that the water samples were taken on Tuesday.
"An accredited laboratory took water samples at different locations in this town under the supervision of a water specialist. The first water sample taken at the outlet of the sewage works was not contaminated with cholera. The second water sample taken from a residential house in Parys tested negative for cholera but was infected with E. coli.
"The third water sample was taken in the Vaal River, approximately 10 metres downstream from a manhole that has been pouring sewage into the river for some time. It is this very water sample that is contaminated with cholera and E. coli. AfriForum is still waiting for the official results, but the laboratory has already notified the organisation of the results due to the seriousness of the matter."
Free State reports first cholera death as Gauteng toll rises to 21
Both went on to say: "It is extremely worrying that the withdrawal point for Vredefort’s water is only 1 km from the sewage spill. It is precisely in Vredefort where there are also confirmed cases of cholera and where a resident died from this virus.
"This information further proves that the Vaal River is indeed infected with cholera. There are several places where the raw sewage flows into the river due to infrastructure that is burnt out or is simply not available, load-shedding and the fact that there is no emergency assistance such as generators or emergency pumps."
AfriForum urged the department of water and sanitation to actively intervene and expressed its intention to help.
“I sincerely hope that the authorities and especially the department of water and sanitation realise the vital importance of this problem and intervene at the incompetent municipality. The help that AfriForum has been offering for the last two years has been ignored time and again and now innocent people are paying for it with their lives,” said Alta Pretorius, AfriForum’s district coordinator for the Mooi River region.
TimesLIVE has reached out to the department of health and the department of water and sanitation for comment.
The story will be updated once comment is received.
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