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More than 500 treated for stomach illness in Zithobeni

Published

Residents of Zithobeni in Bronkhorstspruit say they have no safe tap water after the City of Tshwane failed to treat it with chlorine. They now collect tanker water at Dan Kutumela Secondary School.

More than 500 people have been treated for gastrointestinal illness after they drank the untreated water. Residents say the lack of safe drinking water has severely disrupted their daily lives.

Local resident Banele Motomane said he spent three weeks in hospital after he drank tap water. He said he thought the water would detox him while he was going through drug withdrawal.

Motomane said: "This water situation has really affected me in a way that I had to be admitted in a hospital."

Key facts

Who
Banele Motomane (Local resident who was hospitalised after falling ill from tap water); City of Tshwane (Municipality that failed to chlorinate the water, according to the article)
What
Residents of Zithobeni in Bronkhorstspruit say they lack safe tap water and are collecting tanker water at Dan Kutumela Secondary School. More than 500 people have been treated for gastrointestinal illness after drinking the untreated water.
When
24 October 2026
Where
Zithobeni, Bronkhorstspruit
Status
Reported

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