The cholera epidemic threatening the lives of thousands of Zimbabweans has also made its presence felt in Louis Trichardt. Two people have died in the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital of this infectious disease.

On Wednesday, February 11, a 49-year-old female was the first person in Louis Trichardt to succumb to the disease. On February 12, a 13-year-old male became its second local victim. They both came from villages in the area surrounding Kutama. It is not known how and where the two victims had contracted the disease.

Meanwhile, reports made by Doctors Without Frontiers (MSF) to the media indicate that the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, from where the epidemic stems, is a lot worse than the authorities in that country are prepared to let on. Two representatives from MSF indicated on Tuesday that one new cholera case is documented every minute, which does not correspond with the official figures released by the Zimbabwean health authorities. So far, the MSF team has treated more than 45 000 cholera victims, a figure they say constitutes only around 75% of the total number of infected people.

This is not the only threat to the Zimbabwean people, however, since malaria is also starting to exact a significant death toll, largely because of the total collapse of that country’s health system. People suffering from HIV are also not able to get access to anti-retroviral medication, since most public facilities have closed down and some unscrupulous medical practitioners are charging exorbitant fees in foreign currency for these medicines.

As far as could be determined, the number of deaths from cholera in the Limpopo Province now stands at 26.