The University of Cape Town (UCT) has hit back at an article published in the Cape Argus on Friday.

UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said on Sunday the article “makes a wholly incorrect claim that pollutants found in False Bay and neighbouring coast could cause cholera”.

“The article also claims that people living in a close area were already experiencing chronic illnesses.”

The Cape Argus has subsequently corrected the online version of the article.

Moholola said the cholera claim is wrongly attributed to UCT’s Professor Lesley Green.

“Professor Green and the team have made it clear that E.coli does not cause cholera.

“Professor Green is quoted in the article as saying that tests have been done for cholera. There were no tests done for cholera, therefore, there is no way Professor Green could have claimed that it was found.

Moholola claimed the article caused Green and her team “immense reputational harm”.

He said they have taken “this unusual step because of the severity of the possible panic this could cause”.