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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

Kovsies proud of a gold PRISM Award for safety campaign
2015-05-05

Stefan Lotter, Leonie Bolleurs and Lacea Loader. All three are from the Departement of Communication and Brand Management at the UFS.
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

The University of the Free State, takes pride in the gold PRISM Award (from the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa) for the B Safe Take Action safety campaign that has been rolled out on the campus since 2013 by the Department of Communication and Brand Management.

The campaign earned the Von H Brand Provocateur gold award in the internal communication category.

“The UFS is the only tertiary institution to receive a gold award. The award is a great honour for the department, considering the cream of South African public relations took part in the competition, and the standard was naturally very high. It was also a feather in the cap for us that the uniqueness of the campaign received national recognition from our peers in this manner, said Ms Lacea Loader, Director: Communication and Brand Management at the UFS.

The university is responsible for about 32 000 students and 4 000 members of staff on its three campuses: the Bloemfontein and South Campuses in Bloemfontein and the Qwaqwa Campus in the Eastern Free State. It is of cardinal importance for the university that its students, staff, and assets are safe.

Apart from safety measures that have been implemented by the UFS Protection Services, the B Safe Take Action campaign has also been rolled out on the three campuses of the UFS. The campaign supports the safety strategy of the university. It is aimed at developing a culture of safety awareness in students and staff alike. The purpose of the campaign is for staff and students to take ownership of their own safety. In addition, it creates awareness of the safety measures that are in place at the UFS.

The campaign has been rolled out on various communication platforms. These include placards, pamphlets, lamp-post advertisements, an advertisement board, emails, and messages on student communication portals such as Blackboard, the UFS web and intranet, social media, information boards in the campus parking areas and on the pedestrian walkways as well as messages on refuse bins around the campus. “The fact that a variety of communication platforms has been deployed, the striking design and character of the messages, and the number of target audiences that have been reached further contributed to the success of the campaign,” said Ms Loader,

The campaign also received a merit award from the International Association for Business Communication (IABC). The award will be presented on 15 June 2015 in San Francisco, USA.

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