IN-DEPTH
KwaZulu-Natal hospital crisis: epidemics strike after taps run dry on Day Zero
In the Ugu district in KwaZulu-Natal, thirst is not what kills you when the taps run dry, it is sepsis, the body’s toxic response to an overwhelming infection. The body attacks itself in the immunological equivalent of a nuclear blast — at ground zero, everything dies, friend and foe alike. Bear this analogy in mind when contemplating Day Zero. At the Murchison Hospital north of Port Shepstone, Day Zero arrived unannounced about two years ago. The exact date is unknown, because when the taps ran dry at Murchison, they had already run dry at Izingolweni and at Port Edward, and by the time supply to the hospital was restored, another area was about to go dry. Residents report that for the past two years, a reticulated water supply has been available for about half the time. Day Zero is not a sudden catastrophic implosion. It is, instead, a steady, random collapse of systems varying in severity as determined by myriad factors. In the Ugu district, populated by about 1-million people, i...
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