Residents warned not to drink tap water after hundreds fall sick near South Africa capital

Residents living near South Africa's capital, Pretoria, have been warned not to drink or cook with tap water after more than 400 people, mostly children under four, fell ill after drinking contaminated water.

The cases were detected in Tshwane, the area which includes Pretoria, after people reported to their local hospital with "stomach cramps and diarrhea" over a two-week period, officials said.

No deaths have been reported but high levels of E. coli were found in the water.

Tshwane has faced numerous outbreaks from waterborne diseases in recent years. In 2023, 29 people were killed by a cholera outbreak in a township just outside Pretoria.

That outbreak, in Hammanskraal, was linked to substandard water purification practices.

In 2025, officials confirmed 48 cases of typhoid in the same area east of Pretoria. The source of the outbreak remains unclear.

No cholera bacteria has been found in the latest cases.

Source: BBC News World RSS (Open Press / Translated Full Text)