Cape Town – Former president Thabo Mbeki has commented on the cholera outbreak in Hamaanskraal, describing it as a clear indication of worsening governance in South Africa.
As the country grapples with the disease outbreak, Mbeki expressed concern over the decline in the quality of governance and said that South Africa has been facing a serious crisis for some time, EWN reported.
He also suggested that citizens may need to resort to revolt in order to grab the attention of national leaders and put pressure on them to address the issues.
“It says that there’s a serious deterioration in the quality of governance,” the report quoted Mbeki as saying
He added: “It may very well be that whoever is in government requires this pressure from below, when masses of the people rebel against a system of government that’s not working in their interests.”
The source of the cholera outbreak in Hamaanskraal has not been identified yet.
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Reports said on Sunday that the number of people who had succumbed to cholera in Hammanskraal had increased to 23.
Since 15 May, a total of 229 patients had been treated at Jubilee District Hospital, the Gauteng health department said.
“The number includes 23 patients transferred to other Tshwane-based hospitals. In the past few days, fewer patients have presented at health facilities with symptoms of diarrhoeal disease.
“The number of laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera seen at the hospital is 48. To date, 23 people have, unfortunately, passed on from the disease outbreak,” News24 quoted Gauteng health department’s spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba, as saying.
He said as of Saturday, there were 77 patients admitted for the disease.
According to Times Live, Modiba said as part of efforts to manage the bacterial disease, the government has set up a field hospital in Kanana.
“The six temporary tents have been set up to immediately attend to people presenting with symptoms of dehydration, as vomiting and diarrhoea eliminate water from the body. In this temporary hospital, patients are either given oral hydration or intravenous hydration on the spot, and the most critical patients are immediately taken to hospitals in Tshwane for further management and admission,” Modiba said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
