Nelson Mandela Bay spokesperson says Despatch residents should not panic after the discovery of E.coli contamination in one of the town's reservoirs. There is no health hazard, he stressed.

For two weeks, residents in Despatch, Eastern Cape, unknowingly consumed water from a reservoir that was contaminated with unacceptable levels of E. coli.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Metro detected the bacteria -- which can trigger severe diarrhoea, vomiting and fever -- between 7 and 21 April. Despite this discovery, the municipality failed to notify the community or issue any precautionary warnings, such as a "boil water" notice. Earlier this month, official testing at the reservoir recorded a count of 3 E. coli per 100 millilitres (ml).

According to the South African National Standard (Sans) 241, any amount of E. coli in water can cause acute health risks.

Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya confirmed the detection of E. coli, stating that the recorded level of 3 E. coli per 100ml was "a low level and an isolated deviation which should not be exaggerated".

He said that upon detection, the city immediately acted and implemented corrective measures to restore compliance.

"Municipality confirms that isolated water quality deviations were detected in Despatch through routine, regulated sampling conducted between 7 and 21 April. This constituted a precautionary compliance trigger, not confirmation of a public health hazard," he said.

"Immediate response and action were undertaken. It...