Bulawayo Town Clerk Christopher Dube has attributed the latest Diarrhoea outbreak in Emganwini suburb to old water infrastructure which led to the contamination of water.
The suburb is the third in the city after Luveve and Mzilikazi to record diarrhoea cases.
In Luveve, 13 people died while over 1 500 residents were affected while in Mzilikazi over 100 cases were recorded.
Speaking during a media briefing, Tuesday, Dube revealed that they collected water samples for testing from the suburb and one of the samples confirmed that the water was contaminated.
“The issue of water contamination, yes water contamination is very possible that is why we have got these water metres and we check our water at various points every week on certain intervals but the problem is where we are coming from and where we are because of old infrastructure, what happens there underneath is not known until it is affecting residents,” said the Town Clerk.
“Yes, we have a situation on the site that you have mentioned and we have taken some samples and I am told there is a sample that may have failed the test but unfortunately for now I don’t have the results but I know there is a sample which might have failed the test but otherwise other tests were okay,” he said.
Dube added that, “We will give residents that report in the appropriate time.”
