EFF Gauteng structures and public representatives to conduct oversight visits to water reservoirs and purification plants across the province amid the rising cholera cases

28 May 2023

The Economic Freedom Fighters Gauteng directs all its structures and public representatives to conduct oversight visits to water reservoirs and purification plants amid the rising cholera cases and the death across the province. These oversight visits will take place between Monday the 29" Of May 2023 and Thursday the 1st Of June 2023.

This is a precautionary step to ensure that these water purification and storage facilities are in good condition to provide clean and healthy water for human consumption. It is also one of the means to hold the executive at provincial and municipal levels accountable.

The cases of people treated with gastrointestinal infection continue to increase, with over 74 people now admitted at Jubilee District Hospital and other hospitals around Tshwane, the death toll has risen to 24, and up to this point, the City of Tshwane and the Department of Water and Sanitation have not been able to ascertain the source of the bacteria.

While this raises more questions about the preparedness of both the DA in Tshwane and the ANC government in the province to deal with this situation, this costly confusion has been worsened by the DA government's intention to avoid accountability. The lab test results which suggest that there is no cholera in the running tap water and water tankers are also questionable because they are sanctioned by the very same DA that refuses to take responsibility.

The ongoing cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal is a result of the compromised Rooiwal water treatment plant and the poor water and sewage system which makes it possible for contamination. At the heart of these challenges are corruption and a lack of sympathy and political will from the government.

The EFF raised an alarm about the growing cholera cases in the province at the beginning of April when cases were reported in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni regions. The recent of the Vaal River containing e coli, which indicates the possibility of the existence of the cholera bacteria, and the resultant death of one person in Parys, Free State, speaks to the need to take the quality levels of the water supplied to residents seriously.

The EFF's oversight visits to the water reservoirs and treatment plants are to ensure that these water utilities adhere to water quality standards expected by legislation and other compliance bodies and to assess their readiness in terms of safe water supply contingency planning. The EFF continues to be the advocate for access to clean water and sanitation in the country, and Gauteng in particular.

Issued by Nkululeko Dunga, Provincial Chairperson, EFF Gauteng, 28 May 2023