MSOGWABA – A few parents of pupils from Sindzawonye Primary vowed not to allow hawkers to sell food at the school.
Seventy-five pupils were rushed to Rob Ferreira and Themba hospitals for treatment last week Wednesday.
They were vomiting and complained about experiencing stomach cramps after they had allegedly consumed ice lollies that they had purchased from one of the hawkers.
Read : Pupils rushed to hospital after eating ice lollies
One of the parents, Ms Mary Moyane, said they were still waiting for the principal to inform them of the results from the hospitals.
“While we are waiting, as parents, we have decided to prevent hawkers from selling food to our children until we know exactly how they ingested poison last week. Some of the hawkers are selling expired food that they fetch from a dumping site in Tekwane South. People can say whatever they want, but we are doing this for the safety of our children,” said Moyane.
• Parents will not bow down until they get poisoning results
The provincial spokesperson for the Department of Education, Mr Jasper Zwane, confirmed that they had not yet received the test results.
The Pienaar Police Station opened an enquiry after the incident occurred.
“We interacted with the learners who were affected and a majority of them said they were forced by their parents to complain about having stomach cramps and feeling dizzy, while others admitted that they had never boarded an ambulance before, so when the opportunity presented itself, they did not hesitate to use it,” said the spokesperson of the local police, Lt Jabu Ndubane.
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She further stated that the police received information from the hospitals on the day of the incident which confirmed that about
16 pupils may have consumed poisoned food, but not necessarily from ice lollies.
“According to the hawker, she sold 20 ice lollies and about 75 pupils were transported to hospital. Judging by the number of pupils who fell ill and the amount of ice lollies sold by the hawker, she could not have been the only one who was selling the ice lollies. We did not charge or arrest her. We opened an enquiry and took her to a safe place as the parents threatened to attack her,” said Ndubane.
