Food poisoning crisis: Call for independent probe into School Nutrition Programme

As food poisoning cases continue to affect public school pupils, education experts are calling for an independent investigation to determine the safety of the school nutrition programme.

The call was made following a food poisoning incident last week when 75 pupils from Dzumeri Primary School in Giyani, Limpopo, were rushed to hospital.

The Limpopo Department of Education said most of the pupils were treated and safely went home, but 11 spent a night at the hospital and released the following day, while three remained.

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School Nutrition Programme to blame?

In a statement, the department said the cause of the sickness might have been the food the school supplied.

It said a task team set up by the provincial executive council was “conducting a thorough investigation into the food consumed by the pupils during the National School Nutrition Programme, as well as any other food sources that may have contributed to this situation.”

Education expert Hendrick Makaneta said: “Although the department always says its school nutrition programme is safe, an investigation by an independent structure can shed more light into the matter.”

More than 800 cases of food poisoning

Recently the country experienced more than 800 food poisoning cases and about 25 deaths.

Preliminary investigations suggest that most of the victims allegedly consumed food bought from local vendors and spaza shops.

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National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) secretary-general Matakanye Matakanye agreed with Makaneta.

Matakanye said it was surprising that the recent incident happened even though the Limpopo Department of Education had suspended hawkers and spaza shops near schools.

“NASGB is not accusing the department or suggesting that the food provided has a problem. We are saying more investigations need to be done since the incidents are happening in schools.

“We however appreciate the government’s efforts in trying to address this problem,” he said.

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Education department responds

The Citizen contacted Department of Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga asking him to disclose where the department bought food for the scheme, but he declined and became aggressive.

Mhlanga also refused to share the list of the suppliers contracted under the school nutrition programme.

“I have never in my 52 years of life and my 30 years of experience in media and communications encountered such a strange demand.

“This is shocking and completely unprofessional. If this is what the media industry has become, then we are in for some serious problems. You make spurious accusations against the government without a shred of evidence,” said the irate Mhlanga.

When addressing the nation last Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government was working on closing spaza shops which were found to be linked to the food poisoning incidents.

However, he did not say when that would happen.

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