Roger Ronnie

The long-predicted disaster has happened — yet the government and officials now feign shock and horror while expressing sympathy for the typhoid victims and pointing fingers at others ("System failures lead to typhoid outbreak", September 16). The government has known for a long time that there are serious problems with the quality of our water.

Johannesburg Water’s (JW) full-page advertisement, carried by the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> on August 29, was intended to pacify people already angered by JW’s compulsory installation of pre-payment water meters in Soweto. But instead of this placatory effect, the advertisement warrants outrage.