'Let them lie somewhere'

2008-11-18 09:23

Herman Scholtz

Musina - At least 19 people have died of cholera in the Musina area of Limpopo, but unconfirmed reports say the number could be as high as 30.

All indications are that the outbreak started on the Zimbabwean side of the border.

Phuti Seloba, spokesperson for the provincial Department of Health and Social Development, told Beeld on Monday evening that the disease had already claimed 19 lives.

He said the drinking water in the area was still being tested.

Lying in corridors

Beeld was told by reliable sources that the Musina Hospital was filled to capacity on Monday and that patients were even lying in the corridors, waiting to be treated.

A hospital official said they had been instructed to stop admitting patients for now, but to just insert a drip and "let them lie down somewhere".

"The Zimbabwean ambulances started coming across the border with cholera patients today (Monday), because the power had apparently been switched off at the hospitals on that side," the official said.

Seloba said at this stage they did not want to speculate on the cause of the situation.

"But we are aware of the fact that cholera has broken out on the Zimbabwean side of the Limpopo River," he said.

Drinking water

A Musina resident told Beeld on Monday evening that he had paid R200 for 25 litres of water because he feared the drinking water could be contaminated.

"I'm standing 500m from the showgrounds where the Zimbabwean refugees live and the stench is unbearable," he said, pointing out there was no sanitation at the site.

The hospital official also said the parking area where the refugees were staying "was not equipped for people staying there - there's no water or toilets".

Seloba said the cholera cases started coming in at the weekend and that emergency measures had already been put in place.

"We have erected stations everywhere to treat dehydrated people and to relieve the load at the clinic and the hospital."

The schools in the area have apparently warned their pupils not to drink tap water, and the affected communities would be educated about cholera on Tuesday by way of information sessions and community theatre.

"We ask people to boil their water and wash their hands," Seloba said.

- Beeld