Byo Mayor visits typhoid victims

Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Municipal Reporter

BULAWAYO mayor, Councillor Solomon Mguni on Wednesday visited families of those who died due to Typhoid outbreak in Luveve suburb.

The outbreak which has been attributed to water contamination has to date seen the death of 13 residents while 1798 have been infected.

Government recently revealed that human waste was found in water that was supplied to Luveve suburb in Bulawayo which resulted in the outbreak.

In an interview, Clr Mguni, who was accompanied by ward one councillor, Mlandu Ncube said the visit was mainly to pass their condolences to the families of the deceased and also to inform residents on what the local authority was doing in order to contain the outbreak.

“In our culture we have to go be with the families of the deceased and pass our condolences because this is honestly a sad situation. We are supposed to be united so that we find a lasting solution to this calamity.

“Further, we wanted to inform residents on what our officials are doing to address this crisis because we believe there might be a breakdown of communication regarding this outbreak,” said Clr Mguni.

He revealed that they also took the opportunity to visit council teams on the ground to assess the work that was being carried out in rectifying the anomaly.

“As you know we already have a plan of action to address this problem, therefore we wanted to see for ourselves that what officials are telling us as policy makers is exactly what is taking place on the ground,” said the mayor.

The mayor’s visit comes as residents under the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association are preparing a class action civil lawsuit against the local authority.