We can't do without tap water, say Hammanskraal residents amid cholera scare

Though some Hammanskraal community members have stopped drinking tap water, others say they remain scared but can't stop as they have no other source of water.

This is amid the City of Tshwane's call for residents in the area and surroundings to stop drinking tap water amid the cholera outbreak.

It has been confirmed that 15 people have already died due to the outbreak.

Kgomotso Kekana, who has lived her whole life in Mashemong, Hammanskraal, said water issues in her area are nothing new. While water tankers were sometimes deployed, these were unpredictable, and at times they went long periods without accessing water from the tankers.

Kekana said she and her family would at times get relief when it rained as they collected and stored rainwater for consumption. 

“I am not working. I live with my two kids and two younger sisters. We drink tap water since we can't afford buying purified water and by God's grace when it was raining weeks ago we stored rainwater. That's what we are drinking now, but if it wasn't for that I think we could have been dead by now or sick like the rest,” she said.

Jane Nhlongo from Carousel View said she couldn't afford to buy water.

"At my home, there is no income. I can't afford to buy water. It's only my child's social grant income of R500. What will we use to buy water and how will we boil when we have to also pay for electricity?" she said.

After having heard from her brother in Soshanguve on Sunday that residents were urged not to drink tap water, she said she was scared.

“I am thirsty. I am even afraid of drinking water. Last week my grandchild had a running stomach. When she would drink or eat anything, her tummy would run. Yesterday I didn't drink water the whole day. Even today, I am thirsty but I am afraid to drink from this," said Nhlongo.

She expressed alarm that her community, which has been rocked by cholera infections and deaths, was not immediately warned of what was happening. 

“I didn't know anything about this. We were not told anything. If it wasn't for my family I would have drank the water,” she said.

She said even ward councillors in the area had not informed them on the situation.

Betty Kobe, who works at a hospice in Carousel View, said among their patients, there were some with upset tummies.

Kobe, also a resident of the area, said she boils water at home, but there were no means to boil the water at the hospice, meaning they were forced to offer patients tap water.

“At the hospice, there is no way we can boil water. We don't admit patients here, so we bring lunch boxes. It's only patients who walk in. How are we going to boil for them because if we do it means we have to boil a 20l bucket. We don't have bleach either,” she said, referring to how bleach kills germs in the boiled water. 

She said they had started to educate people in the community on how to stay safe.

“We have been drinking the water as it is. We have had the water challenge for a long time in Hammanskraal. It frustrates us because at home, my husband also has a running stomach. It's almost three days now. It scares us. We don't know if it’s the food he ate or cholera. We can't stop drinking water. When we stop, what are we going to drink? We will try to boil as they say, how will we buy bleach? There is no money,” Kobe said.

Elsie Chauke was shocked when she heard there had been a notice for residents not to drink tap water. She said she and her family had been drinking the tap water without knowing.

The family, which is preparing a funeral, said they do not know how they will conduct their funeral as people would need water to bath and drink.

“We haven't been boiling water because we haven't heard. We were not watching the news,” Chauke said.

Aubrey Maluleka was also shocked by the news and said community leaders should have informed residents.

“We are under risk, and we don't know anything. We can't live without drinking water,” he said.