Pretoria – The City of Tshwane says investigations into the surge in typhoid laboratory-confirmed cases have indicated that most were detected at informal and rural settlements.
Last week on Friday, there were reports of a typhoid outbreak in Hammanskraal.
“The drinking water samples taken from different points in the affected areas and tested have not determined an epidemiological link between these cases,” the City said on Tuesday, 4 November 2025.
“Furthermore, the results have not yet determined the source of the contamination, thus no salmonella typhi could be found in any of the drinking water sources.
“The investigations and interventions will continue until such time that the root cause of the disease has been established.”
Tshwane District has reported a total of 48 cases since the beginning of 2025, of which 15 were reported in October 2025
“However, no new cases were reported in the last week of October,” the City said.
Of these cases, two have resulted in fatalities.
Thirty-four cases were reported between January and October 2024.
“Of the 15 reported cases in October 2025, 11 were recorded in Hammanskraal, one in Pretoria West, and three in Bronkhorstspruit,” the City said.
“Four patients have been hospitalised as of 3 November 2025.”
The City said some of the findings from the case investigations have revealed poor hygienic practices; poor water supply and storage (wells, boreholes, water-storage tanks, and household storage containers), particularly in informal house settings.
The City said while it was concerned about the slight increase in typhoid cases in 2025 compared to 2024, it must be noted that the disease was an endemic in South Africa, which means it was consistently present in a population in a certain geographic area, but in a limited sporadic or cluster form of cases.
The distribution of lab-confirmed typhoid cases was as follows:
• Ekangala, Zithobeni, and Rethabiseng – 22
• Suurman, Temba, Kanana, Machenong, and Sekampaneng – 17
• Danville, Kwaggasrand, Sunderland Ridge, and Pretoria West – 8
• Silverton – 1
The City said symptoms often associated with typhoid include prolonged high fever; headache; fatigue; nausea; loss of appetite; abdominal pain; constipation or diarrhea, and a rash of light pink spots on the upper body may also occur.
The City said it has established a multi-disciplinary Typhoid Response Task Team, comprising Health, Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, and Environmental & Agricultural Management departments, supported by Communication, Marketing & Events, and Emergency Services.
The task team is coordinating interventions, which include, but not limited to:
• Enhanced community health-promotion drives in informal and rural settlements;
• Deployment of additional hand-washing stations at communal sanitation points;
• Verification of compliance and disinfection protocols by contracted water-tanker operators; and
• Targeted clean-ups to address illegal dumping and poor sanitation that heighten contamination risk.
The City appealed to residents to practice strict hygiene by washing hands regularly with soap and clean water, ensuring safe storage of drinking water, and reporting any suspected illness symptoms -such as prolonged fever, abdominal pain, or diarrhea – to the nearest health facility immediately.
The City has warned communities against using untreated river or borehole water for domestic purposes as a precautionary measure.
The city said it remains committed to safeguarding public health and will continue to share verified updates as test results are finalised.
To date, all treated water supplied through the municipal network remains compliant with SANS 241 standards for drinking-water quality, confirming it is safe to drink.
The City said it continues to work closely with the Department of Health, the Department of Water and Sanitation, and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases to ascertain the root cause of the increase in these cases.
For verified updates, residents are encouraged to follow the city’s official communication platforms.
Meanwhile, the Department of Water and Sanitation commended the swift action undertaken with the City, together with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, in responding to the incidents of reported typhoid cases.
The department said it was concerned that the incidents of typhoid were occurring in a community that had recently recovered from a cholera outbreak.
Both cholera and typhoid can be spread through either consuming contaminated water or through poor food handling and hygiene.
Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina, together with Deputy Ministers David Mahlobo and Sello Seitlholo; Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Development and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo; and the Acting Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Eugene Modise, met on Monday, 3 November 2025, in an effort to keep the outbreak under control.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it notes the statement by the City that no typhoid-related bacteria have been detected in routine tests, but it is important that this data be released to the public or at least be given to independent water experts.
“We need second-party verification,” the DA said.
