Pretoria - Bereaved families of people who died in the wake of cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal have come forward to join a class action lawsuit against the government.
The deceased's relatives gathered at Shammah Urban Church in the township, where they met with legal representatives who expressed the intention to institute a medical lawsuit against the implicated spheres of government and departments.
One of their legal representatives, advocate Moafrika Wa Maila, said he was part of at least 12 lawyers ready to take up a legal fight on behalf of the bereaved families in a bid to get compensation from the government.
One of the grieving families from Kanana said that their daughter Johanna Phengwa was survived by her four children and would like the government to assume the responsibilities of taking care of them because their mother was a breadwinner.
Three of the children were still attending school while the elder one who was 25 years old was unemployed, according to a relative Eva Phengwa.
Phengwa said that the plight of the children was worsened by the fact that their child social grants were recently terminated without explanation.
“Things are very difficult for us. We need the government to come to our rescue,” she said.
She said she was still heartbroken because of her late sister’s death.
“She used to be a pillar of strength. She died at home after complaining of a running stomach and vomiting.”
According to her, the deceased was taken for treatment at a local clinic where she was put on a drip.
“Her condition never improved; she continued to have a running stomach until she died on May 19 in the morning,” she said.
She said the government only came to donate food parcels to the family and after the funeral only social workers came over to see them.
Another family wanting compensation was that of the late Nthabiseng Legwabe, who died at home on May 17 after suffering severe diarrhoea and vomiting.
Her sister Jackie Matlatle said the deceased was survived by her two sons who both have mental illness.
“One of the children is 22 while the other is 18. Presently there is no one to take care of them. I had to take them under my roof and it has been difficult for me. They sometimes go out until night and it is not safe for them given their mental conditions. It is difficult for me because most of the time I have to go looking for them,” she said.
Matlatle said that she would welcome any help for children, including an offer to be accommodated at an orphanage home.
“She had a running stomach and was vomiting. She also didn’t have an appetite. Unfortunately, she couldn’t go to the hospital; she died at home,” she said.
Local pastor Bishop Phillip Mogwera said: “We, as the community, are crying, and we request the government never to pass the buck. I have been listening to them, even the guys debating on TV, they passed the buck.”
Mogwera said that the water problem started long before “we thought the DA could appear anywhere”.
“I have been in Hammanskraal for 20 years but for 15 years I have not been drinking tap water from here. It didn’t start now.
“So, we are requesting our national government not just to give verbal comfort. We are saying let us have a lasting solution so that our people can live in Hammanskraal,” he said.
He also expressed support for the class action move, saying it was good “because if it is not done some families will get compensation and others won’t”.
“But if everybody is part of it, they will share whatever amount is paid to them. And if it didn’t work it didn’t work for everybody,” he said.
As of Friday, there were 32 deaths reported countrywide since the cholera outbreak and the majority of them were from Hammanskraal.
Wa Maila last week told the Pretoria News that he would institute a legal class action against the government on behalf of the deceased, those admitted to hospital and other affected residents.
Many people in the township were admitted at Jubilee District Hospital after they fell ill with a diarrhoeal disease or gastrointestinal infection said to be caused by consumption of contaminated water. The government subsequently declared that there was a cholera outbreak in the area.
During a media briefing on Friday, Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink said: “People affected by this must follow their rights. They must get independent legal advice and see if a court of law should adjudicate this matter. As the city we wouldn’t like to dictate to folks how to treat the matter.”
He also said tht it would be crucial for those behind the class action “to establish causality” and find out where the problem came from and somebody responsible for it.
Pretoria News