Cholera kills 17 in South Africa and a further 9 in neighboring Zimbabwe 

At least 17 people have died in a cholera outbreak in the Hammanskraal township outside South Africa’s capital of Pretoria Source: Cholera kills 17 in South Africa and a further 9 in neighboring Zimbabwe – ABC News By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press A patient recovers from cholera at the Jubilee District Hospital […]

At least 17 people have died in a cholera outbreak in the Hammanskraal township outside South Africa’s capital of Pretoria

Source: Cholera kills 17 in South Africa and a further 9 in neighboring Zimbabwe – ABC News

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press

South Africa Cholera
A patient recovers from cholera at the Jubilee District Hospital in Hamanskraal, Pretoria, South Africa, Monday May 22, 2023. At least 17 people have now died from the outbreak in the area. The National Health Department of South Afri…
The Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG — At least 17 people have died in a cholera outbreak in the Hammanskraal township outside South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, authorities said Wednesday.

The toll has risen from an initial 10 fatalities reported by local health authorities earlier this week.

Authorities said there were another 29 laboratory-confirmed cholera cases, while 67 people were admitted to a hospital and clinics for gastrointestinal infections.

Health authorities are yet to confirm the exact source of the cholera outbreak, but poor waste water management and local government instability in South Africa’s capital city have been blamed for the situation. The City of Tshwane Municipality, which takes in Pretoria and surrounding areas, has had at least five different mayors since the ruling African National Congress party lost control in local government elections in 2016.

A water plant in Pretoria which is responsible for waste water management for large parts of Hammanskraal is in need of urgent upgrades estimated to cost about $130 million and hasn’t been functioning properly for years, the city’s mayor said.

“It has been out of capacity since about 2005,” said Tshwane executive mayor Cilliers Brink, who was elected in March.

South Africa is the latest southern African nation to experience an outbreak of cholera following deaths in neighboring Zimbabwe and in Malawi this year. In February, the World Health Organization said cholera cases in Africa were rising exponentially amid a global surge. At least 12 African nations have reported cholera outbreaks this year.

Zimbabwean health authorities have confirmed nine recent deaths with another 28 suspected cholera deaths since February. The Ministry of Health said it had recorded 1,404 suspected cholera cases and 359 laboratory-confirmed cases.

Malawi reported earlier this year that more than 1,000 people had died in a widespread outbreak that started in March 2022. It is Malawi’s worst cholera outbreak in 20 years, WHO said, with more than 36,000 cases.

Cholera is a water-borne disease caused by ingesting contaminated food or water. The infection is extremely virulent, although it can be easily treated once identified.

The NGO Gift of the Givers has distributed more than 3,200 sealed 5-litre water bottles to the Hammanskraal community’s local Jubilee Hospital and surrounding clinics where patients are being treated.

In neighboring Zimbabwe, a country with a history of deadly cholera outbreaks, authorities say the capital, Harare, is turning into an epicenter of the current outbreak. Residents in some suburbs have gone for months without tap water, forcing them to dig shallow wells and boreholes that have been contaminated by raw sewage flowing from burst pipes.

The cholera cases in Africa have been attributed to local sanitation problems, but also climatic factors like cyclones and floods that hit parts of southern Africa recently as well as a global shortage in cholera vaccines.

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Mutsaka reported from Harare, Zimbabwe.

A Short History of Organised Violence and Torture in Zimbabwe

violence Introduction The country that came into being as Zimbabwe in 1980 was the product of a violent occupation in the late 19th century that finally developed into one of the very few bona fide settler states in Africa. Southern Rhodesia became self-governing in 1923, a fact that had profound effects for the de-colonising process. […]

violence

Introduction

The country that came into being as Zimbabwe in 1980 was the product of a violent
occupation in the late 19th century that finally developed into one of the very few bona fide
settler states in Africa. Southern Rhodesia became self-governing in 1923, a fact that had
profound effects for the de-colonising process. In many ways, the existence of settler states
almost guaranteed that this process of de-colonisation would be violent as the complications
over the extent of the de jure power of Southern Rhodesia (later Rhodesia) meant that there
was no easy path for Britain to ensure an independent, majority-ruled country, as was
possible in most of its colonies.

Read full the report: Short-History-of-OVT-Zim-v2-1

Outcome of CALA curriculum review consultation meetings between Ministry of Education and parents

PARENTS who attended the two-day Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA) curriculum review consultation meetings conducted by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education have said the CALA must be scrapped as they make learning difficult f…

PARENTS who attended the two-day Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA) curriculum review consultation meetings conducted by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education have said the CALA must be scrapped as they make learning difficult for pupils. The curriculum review exercise started on Monday with players in the education sector conducting consultations. On Tuesday, parents […]

The post Outcome of CALA curriculum review consultation meetings between Ministry of Education and parents first appeared on My Zimbabwe News.