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28 June 2023 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Sipplied
Dr Patricks Voua Otomo
Dr Patricks Voua Otomo says cholera is one of the most vicious threats to public health.

South Africa’s water challenges and dilapidating infrastructure could mean that cholera is here to stay. The recent cholera outbreaks in Gauteng and the Free State were a warning sign that the quality of the country’s water is questionable.

According to Dr Patricks Voua Otomo, Head of the Ecotoxicology Research Laboratory and Subject Head: Zoology and Entomology in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, we remain at risk of recurring and isolated outbreaks until the country’s failing water systems are addressed.

Systemic failure poses significant risks to public health

He warned that as long as the country’s wastewater treatment works are in a poor to critical state, they pose significant risks to public health and the environment.

“Our water systems are connected, and in South Africa one of our greatest challenges is poorly treated wastewater systems and highly polluted rivers. The current cholera outbreak isn’t happening in peculiar regions. It’s in areas where people consume questionable drinking water. The water we have is not of good quality, and people shouldn’t be consuming it,” he said.

Dr Otomo said that cholera is one of the most vicious threats to public health and an indicator of inequality, because bacteria may continue to thrive if the current conditions remain unchanged. “All it takes to get cholera is a drop of contaminated water in your system to fall sick or even die. In a country like ours, where many people experience water scarcity and rely on unsanitary water sources, they are vulnerable to being easily exposed to bacterial diseases such as cholera.”

Water treatment plants require urgent intervention

The current cholera outbreak could be subsiding, but he warns that it is only a matter of time before it resurfaces, or other waterborne diseases wreak havoc if things remain unchanged.

“We urgently need to address the failing infrastructure, improve the quality of our drinking water, and how water gets treated before being released into river streams – or we’ll remain at risk. Cholera is just one of many waterborne diseases. High E. coli levels were found on our beaches just recently, which is an indicator of other bacteria present in the water. We are really in trouble.”

News Archive

Kovsie students selected for prestigious study travel programme
2013-05-15

 

Golden Key International Honour Society members, Michael van Niekerk, Siobhan Canavan, Mpoi Makhetha and Cebolenkosi Sokhela, will travel to the USA and China, meeting the best in their career fields.
Photo: Hannes Pieterse
15 May 2013


They are amongst the top 15 percent of academic achievers at the university, and have been afforded the opportunity to travel abroad and meet with leading people in their fields of study.

Kovsie students Michael van Niekerk, Siobhan Canavan, Mpoi Makhetha and Cebolenkosi Sokhela, all members of the Golden Key International Honour Society, will travel to the USA and China. This trip is part of the International Scholar Laureate Program (ISLP) to learn how their career fields are practiced in another part of the world. The students are part of a select group of outstanding university students from across the world who will be given access to people, places and global perspectives in fields such as business, engineering, medicine, nursing, diplomacy and international relations.

Michael, a fourth-year MBChB student and SRC member of our Bloemfontein Campus, and Cebolenkosi, a third-year BSc Microbiology student will visit Washington, Philadelphia and New York in the USA. As part of the medicine delegation of the programme, they will visit clinics and hospitals to see how their study fields are practiced. Michael’s trip includes a visit to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he will meet representatives of the National Institute of Health, the largest source of funding for medical research in the world. He will also visit Harvard University in Massachusetts.

Mpoi, a third-year BSc Human Molecular Biology student, also forms part of the medicine delegation but will travel to China. "We will be exploring the ancient ways of healing versus the modern medical practices, exploring the medical systems of the country and meeting doctors and professors, visiting the rural areas, and of course, touring the best parts of China,” she said.

Siobhan, a third-year Media Studies and Journalism student, is part of the diplomacy and international relations delegation who will visit Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai in China. "To me it's such an honour to be part of this programme,” she said. “It will give me the platform to not only represent who I am, but also my university and the values that the university has instilled in me. It allows me to be a part of something great that will benefit me in the end."

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