Mozambique cholera: Why outbreaks have sparked unrest

False claims about the spread of a cholera outbreak in northern Mozambique have led to violent protests and deaths, according to health officials.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted instances in which misinformation about the disease has contributed to the unrest.

Through social media posts and local media reports, we’ve looked into some of these protests to understand what was behind the trouble.

In one recent incident, a man was beaten to death in the town of Gurue in Zambezia province by people who falsely accused him of spreading cholera, according to health officials.

The event was captured in a graphic video seen by the BBC that has been circulating on social messaging apps and shows the body of a man with a large crowd looking on.

In another protest, four people were killed as police battled a group attacking homes and property belonging to local officials in Nacala Porto in

Nampula province.

Further north in Cabo Delgado province, police fired into the air to disperse a crowd trying to attack a health centre in Meluco district.

What do people believe?

It is unclear what is fuelling the misinformation - which is largely spreading through word of mouth - although our monitoring of social media has provided some insight.

Cholera thrives in conditions where water sanitation is inadequate.

Some online posts claim falsely that measures implemented by local health officials, such as adding chlorine to water supplies and the use of purifiers, are in fact spreading the disease.

The BBC’s Jose Tembe in Maputo says almost all violent cases related to cholera stem from misinformation.

“Also targeted are grassroots leaders who mobilise people to use the purifiers. The leaders are falsely thought to be part of the alleged group spreading the water-borne disease,” he says.

South Africa period poverty: ‘I

Tamara Magwashu was bullied at school as her family was not rich enough to afford sanitary pads.

Now 27, she grew up in a poor township in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province and watched her single mother use old rags during menstruation.

Tamara would take at least a week off school while she was on her period, and had to learn how to fold and use the rags, which were very uncomfortable.

That scarring experience has motivated her as an adult.

“I made a choice deep within me that I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I did,” she tells the BBC.

“So I had the idea to create my own company, to eradicate period poverty.”

She now delivers sanitary pads to hundreds of schools in the Eastern Cape.

‘Grew up in a shack’

Her work has been recognised by her community and she was nominated for this year’s Forbes magazine 30 under 30 list, which showcases young campaigners and entrepreneurs from around the world.

Describing her upbringing in the township of Duncan Village in the city of East London, Tamara says she has lived her entire life “in a shack - never had any windows, never had any [piped] water”.

She decided to get part-time jobs after school to try and make ends meet for her family - and to help when she was on her period.

“I started to work whenever I could around my studies so that I could buy sanitary pads because for me those rags were very uncomfortable.”

Tamara also says that as a teenager she found it very difficult to understand why she was getting period pains, because there was very little education about menstruation.

She was not alone in this struggle.

Anti-poverty NGO The Borgen Project estimates that seven million South African girls cannot afford to buy sanitary products.

Across the globe, the World Bank says that at least 500 million women and girls lack access to the facilities they need during their periods.

UN Women reckons that 1.25 billion women and girls worldwide have no safe, private toilet to go to.

And that is the case for Tamara and her family. They share a public toilet with around 50 others in her township.

Despite South Africa being one of the wealthiest countries on the continent, the young businesswoman thinks it only really “shines from the outside”.

When she went to university in Johannesburg to study public relations, Tamara managed to start saving some money from her student loan as

In a caption accompanying the video of the killing in Garue, the victim was alleged to have distributed infected “dust” at a property in the area.

The WHO Africa representative in Mozambique, Severin von Xylander, says misinformation is dangerous because it can fuel behaviour that drives the spread of disease.

Mozambique has been battling an outbreak of the disease since September last year.

It’s just one of many countries in the region facing rising cases of cholera, including South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Kenya.

“This, in turn, undermines trust in health authorities, which hampers public health responses and ultimately prolongs outbreaks.” well as income from her parttime jobs in order to start her own business, with a view to changing things for women and girls in her community.

She had to be self-sufficient as she had tried to get a business loan but no-one would take a risk on her as she did not have any assets to her name.

She eventually launched the business in 2021 with the aim of selling period products at an affordable price for disadvantaged women.

She called it Azosule, which means “to wipe away every tear from their eyes” in South

Africa’s Xhosa language.

It also has a charitable arm, using a portion of its profits.

Tamara created the “She needs you” campaign where she goes into schools in rural areas to deliver pads for free.

The Borgen Project estimates around 30% of girls do not attend school there while they are on their period because they do not have access to sanitary products.

‘It was like Christmas’ Her former secondary school headteacher is proud of her work.

“She has helped the girls so much. She has brought so many pads that the girls have enough for six months - it was like Christmas for them,” Thazea Mnyaka says.

“These girls come from disadvantaged backgrounds where their only meals can come from school, how can they buy sanitary products?”

In addition, Tamara does local pad drives on the street, where she hands out her products in marginalised communities.

Yazini Kuse is a journalist, also from Duncan Village, and she was the first reporter to