clipped from www.news24.com

Johannesburg - A total of 13 new cholera cases have been confirmed in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North West, officials said on Monday.

A further 64 suspected cases were reported in Limpopo and Gauteng.

Limpopo water affairs chief director Alson Matukane said ongoing tests of water in the province indicated that parts of the Tubatse River in the Steelpoort area were contaminated with cholera bacteria.

Other parts of the river however tested negative.

"It seems areas that tested positive are where people use plastic containers to carry water."

Matukane said officials were still investigating if the water was contaminated by people or the environment.

Limpopo health department spokesperson Phuti Seloba said about 48 new suspected cases were reported in the province.

Eleven of these reports were in the areas where the Tubatse River had tested positive for the disease. The province's cholera death toll remained at nine.

In Gauteng, 16 more people were suspected to have contracted cholera.