Pretoria – The Gauteng Department of Health said videos and social media posts showing monkeys swimming in water tanks and alleging that the vessels belong to the Jubilee District Hospital in Hammanskraal are irresponsible and seek to mislead.
Spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health, Motalatale Modiba said circulating the videos has the potential to cause panic among patients and community members.
“The Gauteng Department of Health would like to assure the public that the video where monkeys are seen swimming inside black water tankers is not from Jubilee District Hospital nor any of our public health facilities. Jubilee District Hospital and other facilities in Gauteng do not use black water tankers,” said Modiba.
He said Gauteng Department of Health facilities use green JoJo tanks and that the water supplied by local authorities and water utilities to the hospitals and clinics “is clean” and fit for human consumption and other services.
WATCH: The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) would like to assure the public that the video where monkeys are seen swimming inside black water tankers is not from Jubilee District Hospital nor any of our public health
facilities. pic.twitter.com/4rPM9nqo72
“It is irresponsible for people to circulate on social media unverified content which spreads lies about water provision at facilities as this has the potential to cause panic among patients, their families and communities who depend on public health facilities for health-care services.
“The same video was shared earlier this year and those who shared it insinuated that it was depicting the situation at Helen Joseph Hospital at the time when the facility was experiencing water supply shortages,” said Modiba.
“The Gauteng Department of Health traced the source of the video when it was first shared in April 2022 by V6 News, a YouTube channel that captioned the video as follows: ‘Monkeys Bath In Water Tanks In Narsingapur’. Social media users and the general public are urged to condemn any material that seeks to mislead and cause unnecessary panic amongst the public, especially the most vulnerable who rely heavily on public health facilities.”
The Gauteng Department of Health has encouraged community members to report pages that continue to use and distribute such content.
“Anyone that creates or spreads fake news about the Gauteng Department of Health or any other facility can be charged with crimen injuria and is liable for prosecution. People can access reliable information from all Gauteng Department of Health social media platforms, including through trusted sources such as established media outlets,” said Modiba.
Previously, Twitter users shared several videos purported to be from the Jubilee District Hospital showing monkeys walking in hospital wards, some hovering above hospital beds.
The Hammanskraal area in Tshwane has been the epicentre of a cholera outbreak which has claimed the lives of more than 25 people.
Cholera has also been identified in other provinces, including Limpopo, Free State and Mpumalanga.
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