Food poisoning ‘out of hand’ with 150 pupils hospitalised in two months

Food poisoning incidents in public schools are getting out of hand with about 150 pupils hospitalised in less than two months.

On Monday, 47 pupils from Rapelego Primary School in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, were rushed to hospital after showing signs of food poisoning.

In another incident more than a week ago, 35 pupils from Makahlule Primary School in Malamulele, Limpopo, were taken to a local hospital after suspected food poisoning.

Activist says food poisoning needs urgent attention

Education and social justice activist Hendrick Makaneta said the matter was getting out of hand and needed urgent attention from the government and other stakeholders.

He said it was known that the Gauteng department of health raised concerns about the rising cases of food poisoning, so the department of education and other authorities must investigate the cases.

“We are expecting the matter to be investigated and the report to be made public so that those who will be found guilty can be held accountable,” said Makaneta.

“The affected pupils must also receive counselling because these kinds of things cannot be taken lightly.”

About 74 Grade 12 pupils from different schools on the West Rand were undergoing treatment at the Carletonville District Hospital yesterday after suspected food poisoning.

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Gauteng department of education said last week the affected pupils were from Fochville Secondary School, Badirile Secondary School, and Wedela Technical School.

Department spokesperson Steve Mabona did not respond to questions sent to him yesterday.

However, Gauteng health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba has urged the public to be careful and make sure that they check food before eating it to avoid being poisoned.

“We advise the public to avoid consuming expired food, even if it looks okay,” he said.

SGBs say government failed to protect pupils

South African National Association of School Governing Bodies general secretary Matakanye Matakanye has lambasted government for failing to protect pupils.

Matakanye called on the department to investigate food poisoning incidents involving pupils and make sure that the matter was prevented from happening again.

“It is not the first school in the country to experience food poisoning incidents, but the government is not doing anything about it. We can’t stand and watch while our children are dying,” said Matakanye.

When asked what authorities were doing about the incidents, department of basic education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga referred the questions to the Gauteng education department.

The alarming food poisoning cases are happening at the time when the country is still mourning the death of six children from Naledi, Soweto, who allegedly died from food poisoning.

It is alleged the children ate food that was bought from a local spaza shop.

The death of the six children and the rising number of food poisoning cases prompted authorities to inspect spaza shops, to make sure that they were complying with the laws and were selling fresh food to consumers.

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