- In 2023, South Africa had its first cholera outbreak since 2009.
- The first two cases were imported from Malawi in February, but since then the confirmed cases that have been reported — across five provinces — have been transmitted locally. The sources of these transmissions (e.g. rivers or other water sources contaminated with the cholera germ in affected areas) are not yet known.
- The largest outbreak was in Hammanskraal near Tshwane. In July, the Water Research Commission released its findings on the source of the outbreak. The Commission revealed although its investigation couldn’t confirm that river or tap water were the source of the outbreak, most of the area’s water treatment plants produced unsafe drinking water and were either partly or entirely dysfunctional.
- We’ll update this page with the latest figures of the cholera outbreak as they become available. We have also made the data available in a spreadsheet. We have made a series of infographics of the figures announced since February so you can use the page to retroactively track how the 2023 cholera outbreak spread through South Africa.
Latest confirmed cases
Click here to download the data
Places with the most reported cases
Tracking the spread of the disease
5 February 2023
The first two laboratory-confirmed cases were recorded on 5 February in two sisters from the Gauteng township, Diepsloot, in northern Johannesburg. The pair had travelled to a funeral in Malawi in early 2023 — that country is experiencing its worst cholera outbreak ever.
The husband of one of the sisters also contracted the disease bringing the total number of confirmed cases to three.
Statement by Health Minister Joe Phaahla
23 February 2023
The first death from cholera was announced by Health Minister Joe Phaahla.
A man, 24, from Emandleni, an informal settlement in Benoni, Ekurhuleni, died a few days after being admitted to hospital. He had no travel history.
He was one of two new confirmed cholera cases. The second was a 28-year-old man from Alexandra, Johannesburg.
The total number of confirmed cholera cases: 5
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 1
Health department media statement
2 March 2023
The sixth confirmed cholera case was announced.
The patient was a 19-year-old woman living in Emandleni, an informal settlement in Benoni. This is the same area as the man who died of cholera in February.
The total number of confirmed cholera cases: 6
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 1
Health department media statement
29 March 2023
Four new cholera cases were confirmed in Gauteng.
The new cases were a husband and wife from Diepsloot, who said their symptoms started a few days after they had been baptised in the Jukskei River, which flows through the Diepsloot area. The pastor who baptised the couple, a 50-year-old woman, also tested positive for cholera.
The fourth patient was a 10-year-old girl from Katlehong in Ekurhuleni, who had also taken part in a baptism ceremony, but in the Klip River.
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 10
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 1
Health department media statement
20 May 2023
Four new cases of cholera were detected in Gauteng and seven in the Vredefort and Parys areas in the Free State.
There is one more confirmed case, but no information was provided about about where it was detected.
Meanwhile, the health department put out a warning of an outbreak of diarrhoeal disease or gastrointestinal infection in Hammanskraal, north of Tshwane, after more than 50 people received medical attention for such conditions at the Jubilee Hospital in Hammanskraal and six patients died.
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 22
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 1
Health department media statement
25 May 2023
Confirmed cholera cases in Gauteng rose to 21 and one person died of the condition in the Free State.
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 28
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 2
Health department media statement
28 May 2023
Forty-eight confirmed cholera cases were detected at the Jubilee District Hospital near Hammanskraal and 23 people died of the disease.
Meanwhile, 229 people had been seen at the hospital with symptoms of diarrhoeal disease. A field hospital was set up in Kanana, in Hammanskraal, to assist people in the area.
Gauteng health department media statement
31 May 2023
Nine confirmed cases of cholera in total were detected in the Free State in Parys and Vredefort.
The Kanana area of Hammanskraal, in Tshwane, became the epicentre of the outbreak.
The first confirmed case, on 15 May, was a 65-year-old police officer from Musina in Limpopo who was attending a course at the police college in Hammanskraal.
Hospitals in Tshwane reported a large number of patients with gastrointestinal symptoms during May. Jubilee hospital said that between 17 and 23 May it saw an average of 23 patients a day.
However, only 99 confirmed cases of cholera had been reported in Tshwane thus far.
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 119
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 25
Health department media statement
1 June 2023
The first confirmed case of cholera was detected in Mpumalanga. The patient, a 73-year-old women from Phake Thabeng near Siyabuswa, died in hospital.
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 119
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 26
SA Government News Agency announcement
8 June 2023
The health department announced that there were 166 laboratory-confirmed cases and 31 confirmed cholera deaths. It released two statements, one late in the evening, which announced another death, bringing the death toll to 32.
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 166
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 32
Health department press releases: First, second
25 June 2023
The health department announced that there were 197 laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera across five provinces and another 848 suspected cases.
A suspected case is when a person has acute watery diarrhoea with or without vomiting. In areas where a cholera outbreak has been declared, any person presenting with or dying from such symptoms meets the criteria for a suspected cases, said the health department.
A total of 43 cholera deaths were reported, but these included both lab-confirmed and suspected cases. Since the last cholera update on 8 June, the number of confirmed cholera deaths has decreased to 20 (from 32), but 23 suspected cholera deaths are now included.
The department said the majority of the positive cases and deaths had causal links with funeral service attendance in outbreak communities.
The case fatality rate (the proportion of diagnosed people who die of the disease) is 3.5%.
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 197
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 20 (another 23 suspected)
Health department press release
5 July 2023
Only one new lab-confirmed cholera case, in North West, has been detected since 25 July, said the department of health.
There were 225 new suspected cases, bringing the number of suspected cases since 1 February to 1,073.
Four more suspected cholera deaths were recorded, all of them in the Free State.
The total number of suspected deaths is now 27 and the number of deaths from lab-confirmed cholera remains 20. This brings the total number of deaths to 47. Three-quarters of these deaths were recorded in Gauteng.
Close to 90% of the confirmed cholera cases were in Gauteng, mostly from Hammanskraal, the department said in a media statement
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 198
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 20 (another 27 suspected)
Read the full statement from the department of health
25 July 2023
A 24-year-old South African man tested positive for cholera when he was admitted to hospital in Durban shortly after he returned from a visit to Karachi, Pakistan. This is the third imported case of cholera detected this year. The other cases were in people who had been to Malawi.
Total number of confirmed cholera cases: 199
Total number of confirmed cholera deaths: 20 (another 27 suspected)
Read the full statement from the department of health
