Distribution of water, reliability of water supply, water storage and vandalism were problems still facing communities hit by a cholera outbreak at the end of 2000, scientists said on Wednesday.
A report released by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Durban reveals that proper water supply in South Africa’s poorest communities has improved. However, there are still grave risks that could see further outbreaks of water-related diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
The outbreak in 2000 claimed the lives of 265 people in five provinces and 120 000 others were infected. KwaZulu-Natal bore the brunt of the outbreak and the World Health Organisation claimed that it was the biggest cholera outbreak in Africa during that period.
The report, titled Still Paying the Price: Revisiting the Cholera Epidemic of 2000-2001 in South Africa, is based on research carried out mostly in the rural settlement of Nqutshini, near Empangeni, and the semi-urban settlement in Nkobongo, 45km north of Durban.
HSRC research director Dr David Hemson said there is a lack of drinking water ”and then, when it is provided, there are interruptions”.
He added that the urban poor were the first to benefit from the government’s free basic water policy due to the ease with which water infrastructure can be set up.
However, in rural areas there have been delays providing a service and, when implemented, residents told researchers the supply is often interrupted. The report says this leads to residents storing water for long periods in unsanitary containers.
Hemson cited vandalism as the major problem facing the delivery of piped water.
Nkobongo residents are asked for a R70 deposit and many cannot afford it or the subsequent R20 tokens to get water.
Hemson said he visited a water-treatment plant in one community that was operated ”by a part-time employee”. There was no engineer to ensure that it was operating properly.
During the field work carried out in 2005, researchers also discovered that some residents in Nqutshini, through which the Mhlatuze River flows, believed that the cholera outbreak was caused by whites fearful of black numerical superiority. Others believed that witchcraft had been responsible.
Hemson said this indicates that education messages regarding water health are not reaching the poor. ”We need a reliable water supply and we need more rigorous water education.”
The report states that although the cholera epidemic has passed, the ”problems of access, improved management and water quality remain”.
Continuing reports that half of the 170 water-service authorities in the country are not meeting water quality standards are cause for concern and an argument for greater civil society monitoring and assessment. — Sapa