The Sunday News
Thandeka Matebesi, Sunday News Reporter
TSHOLOTSHO District Hospital and Tsholotsho Rural District Council offices have been operating without a functional sewer system for many years, a situation that is posing a health hazard at the two key facilities in the area.
In an interview, Matabeleland North provincial medical director Dr Alfred Muchara said sanitation levels in the province were generally low but Tsholotsho was still lagging behind compared to other places in the province.
“Sanitation levels in Matabeleland North are generally low and we have been working on improving the situation but Tsholotsho still has the lowest levels of sanitation as they have not fixed the issue of toilets and the basic sewer system at the hospital and at the council offices,” said Dr Muchara.
He said he has tried to engage Tsholotsho RDC and discussions had not yielded positive outcomes.
“The RDC is mandated with making sure that sanitation levels are at their highest but that has not been the case with Tsholotsho,” he said.
Although the chairman of the Tsholotsho RDC could not be reached for comment, Chief Conrad Magama Hadebe also expressed concern over the issue and said the situation was fertile for cholera outbreak.
“There are no functioning toilets at the council’s offices, people have to go to court (building) because that is the only closest place with a functioning toilet.
“The situation at the hospital is worse as there are Blair toilets which are not even up to standard,” said Chief Magama.
“There is a problem which needs to be attended to especially now towards the rainy season and the outbreak of cholera in some parts of the country. We have had a dozen of meetings with the council but nothing has come out of it.”
According to Dr Muchara only one case of cholera has been recorded in the province. A teacher at a school in Tsholotsho is suspected to have contracted cholera after visiting Harare.
He said parents and guardians should not worry about the suspected infected teacher as she has been quarantined.
Meanwhile, only one case of cholera has been recorded in Beitbridge, Matabeleland South with authorities in the province saying they are now on high alert.
In an interview, Matabeleland South provincial medical director Dr Chido Chikodzore said they had not recorded any other case of cholera and they had already drafted strategies to deal with suspected cases.
“We still have one case from Beitbridge, a second suspected case this week also from Beitbridge with a history of travel to Harare was negative on culture and microscopy. Apart from that, no secondary cases had been recorded in the province.
“With regards to cholera preparedness, we are looking at the provision of proper sanitation in all our districts, that is, the availability of functioning public toilets and in hospitals. We are also doing day-to-day surveillance of all diarrhoea cases that are reported,” said Dr Chikodzore.
Umzingwane Ward 16 Councillor Mr Partson Sibanda also noted with concern the lack of clean running water and proper sewer systems in the area saying council was preoccupied with solving the issue.
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