Mabopane water safe for drinking, insists Tshwane
The City of Tshwane has refuted claims that portable water in Mabopane is not safe for consumption.
This comes after several voice notes made rounds on social media alleging that the water in Mabopane could be contaminated with cholera.
In one audio clip, a woman can be heard warning her family not to drink tap water, " I have received a few notices an entire family was hospitalised after drinking water from the tap. For now, they have advised that you don't drink water from the tap, rather buy water because we don't know if it is cholera or what."
Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba refuted the claims.
"The information in the clip is patently false, the water supplied in Mabopane is from Rand Water’s Palmiet system. The system also serves many areas upstream such as Laudium, Atteridgeville, Thatchfield, Copperleaf, and many other areas in Centurion. The water is clear and good for human consumption,” he said.
Earlier this year, more than 40 people died from the water-borne cholera disease which started in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.
In 2019, the South African Human Rights Commission declared the water in Hammanskraal unsuitable for human consumption after residents had complained for many years.
The commission has described the City of Tshwane’s inability to address the lack of reliable supply of clean water to communities as a “continued violation of human rights”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who visited the area following the outbreak admitted that the government has failed the people of Hammanskraal.
The source of the outbreak remains unknown, but Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink maintained that water from streams, baptisms, and swimming could have been behind the spread of the bacterial disease.
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