President Cyril Ramaphosa is today visiting the community of Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, following the cholera outbreak, which has claimed at least 26 lives countrywide.
The President is accompanied by several Ministers and Deputy Ministers, including the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Thembi Nkadimeng; the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, and the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and the Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Cilliers Brink, also form part of the delegation.
“The outbreak of cholera in the community of Hammanskraal has caused devastation, and the three spheres of government and their agencies and non-governmental organisations have been seized with instituting mitigating measures to contain the spread of cholera,” President Ramaphosa said in a statement ahead of the visit.
President Ramaphosa will begin the visit with a stopover at the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant. Following that, he will lead a delegation of government leaders to a community meeting in Hammanskraal.
President Ramaphosa will interact with the community on the measures government is implementing.
In the past weeks, President Ramaphosa has assured South Africans that government’s immediate priority is to end the cholera outbreak and ensure safe water for all.
The President further told the nation, through his weekly newsletter, that the recent outbreak of cholera in Hammanskraal, Gauteng, and in the Free State and Mpumalanga has shown the importance of safe and effective water and wastewater management. – SAnews.gov.za
