Authorities this week told communities east of the capital to stop drinking tap water. Those 408 got treatment at various health facilities. Symptoms include stomach cramps and diarrhea, and most of the sick are children under 4.
Officials say the water treatment plant serving several of those communities went about three weeks without chlorine because the municipality had trouble getting it from its usual supplier. The plant draws from the Bronkhorstspruit River, which is badly contaminated with sewage from poorly functioning wastewater plants upstream.
On Wednesday, city officials sent emergency tankers to deliver water to residents, and the charity Gift of the Givers supplied bottled water. An initial investigation found that officials never told residents about the problem. Nasiphi Moya, mayor of the city of Tshwane, which includes Pretoria and surrounding communities, said the city failed to warn affected areas "that the water being supplied had not been chlorinated and therefore should not be drunk or used for cooking, washing or bathing, even after boiling." Various political parties now want Moya to resign and other officials fired.
Water quality has long been a contentious political issue around the capital. This time, a missing chemical and a missing warning did the damage.