Johannesburg - Tshwane executive mayor Cilliers Brink has maintained that the City of Tshwane municipality is still making every effort possible to establish the source of the cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal.
Brink said the municipality was aware that the situation in Hammanskraal had coincided with a major breach of trust between the government and the people, which was part of the reason why they were trying everything in their efforts to mend that trust.
To do so, he said the leadership of the city had to start by finding the source of the cholera outbreak, which had resulted in several deaths to date.
“While we have said Hammanskraal water is a serious problem and has been for many years, we have not detected the source of the cholera, and it’s important to make that point.
“If we say it is the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant, although tests are negative, and stop looking at other potential sources, we might be mismanaging the situation and depriving ourselves of finding out where it comes from and acting effectively to address it.”
Brink said that in recent days there had been numerous discussions about the wastewater treatment plant and how the city planned to upgrade it, where the money came from, and how they had already briefed the media on the lack of resources and attempts the city was making to augment those resources by getting money from outside to upgrade.
“We know that unless and until the plant is upgraded, Hammanskraal will not have suitable water. The issue of cholera is distinct from Hammanskraal until we make that connection and thought to dedicate a team to inform the public of efforts to co-ordinate efforts."
The Star