Tshwane: 408 sick, mostly children, after three weeks of unchlorinated water near Pretoria

Four hundred and eight people, mostly children under the age of four, were treated for digestive issues between October 7 and 18, 2026, in Region 7 of the Tshwane metropolitan area, in northeastern South Africa, reports the South African media outlet GroundUp. No deaths have been reported. The cases are concentrated in Bronkhorstspruit, Zithobeni, Dark City, Rethabiseng, and Sokhulumi, with a peak of 72 new patients on October 13.

Three weeks without chlorine, and without warning

According to GroundUp, the water distributed was not chlorinated from September 24 to October 14, 2026, following a supply disruption of chlorine. Mayor Nasiphi Moya explained that the supplier had quadrupled its prices and that negotiations had failed, and that technical officials had not informed the municipality's leadership. Disciplinary sanctions have been announced.

During these three weeks, residents were not warned that the tap water should not be consumed. A sample taken by the Department of Water and Sanitation on October 14 confirmed severe bacterial contamination, with "extremely high" levels of E. coli and total coliforms. Stool analyses revealed norovirus, Campylobacter, and Shigella.

Emergency repairs

The station was closed on October 14, chlorine was restored the following day, and the plant resumed operations on October 16; 36 water tankers were deployed. Tap water should only be used for toilets until a return to normal. Rand Water is overseeing repairs, the Water Research Commission is conducting independent analyses, and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases must decide, along with the ministry, whether an epidemic is officially declared.

Upstream wastewater

The root cause lies further up the basin: untreated wastewater, coming notably from failing treatment plants in the neighboring Victor Khanye municipality and from Tshwane's pumping stations. Tshwane's 2025 Green Drop score, the national indicator for sanitation performance, has fallen to 33.8%, GroundUp specifies.

Water management expert Anthony Turton summarizes the system's limitation: "None were designed to convert raw sewage into potable water." In Zithobeni, resident Nicky Sibanda says she wants to know when the problem will end.

This episode says nothing about a lack of technical resources: South Africa is among the most industrialized economies on the continent. It says everything about a broken chain of responsibility—a contract not renewed, information not reported, a population not warned. The right to drinking water, enshrined in the South African Constitution, was at stake here over a chlorine order.