24 Mpumalanga pupils hospitalised after allegedly eating spaza shop snacks

Incidents of alleged food poisoning among school pupils continue to plague the country, as about 24 Mpumalanga primary school pupils were rushed to the hospital after consuming spaza shop snacks.

The Mpumalanga department of education confirmed that the pupils from Enzani Primary School in Matsulu were rushed to Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mbombela.

According to the report from the school, the children complained about abdominal pains, and some started vomiting. They allegedly ate some snacks procured from one of the local spaza shops.

Pupils complained about abdominal pains and started vomiting

“The school principal notified their parents and immediately rushed the learners to Rob Ferreira Hospital, where they are currently receiving medical attention,” the department said in a statement.

Fortunately, all of the learners are in a stable condition, the department said.

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On Thursday morning, while tabling the state of readiness for the management and writing of the class of 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, Education MEC Dlamini urged all school management teams, school governing bodies, and parents to be extra vigilant about what learners eat both within the school premises and outside.

This comes after a similar incident was reported involving pupils from Marhagi Secondary School in Verena.

“Everyone must play a meaningful role in this regard and not take such matters for granted. Basic hygiene practices, such as washing of hands after using restrooms or before eating, must be strictly adhered to at all times,” said Dlamini.

Similar incident at Marhagi Secondary School

The department said it will be monitoring the developments closely and will issue regular updates on the status of the learners.

Incidents of alleged food poisoning have been going on across the country, with six Soweto pupils who died after eating after snacks allegedly purchased from a spaza shop.

ALSO READ: Foreign spaza shop owners should get their own tax, Parliament told

Spaza shops have also been a major topic, with many organisations and people calling for more regulation.

In Parliament on Wednesday, Minister of Small Business Development Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said that, as it stands, South Africa does not have effective regulation on spaza shops, whether owned by South Africans or non-South Africans.

However, the Businesses Act of 1991 gives authority to local municipalities to issue permits.

Spaza shop regulation

“As a department that has been recently established and is responsible for the sector we are talking about, we are bringing legislation to Parliament to ensure we are able to give ourselves some authority to be able to issue certain directives when it comes to the licensing,” she said.

Additional reporting by Nicholas Zaal