‘We can’t cancel feeding scheme over suspicion'

Some parents stop their kids from eating food at school

The Gauteng department of education says it won't discontinue the feeding scheme at a Katlehong school "over a suspicion" because doing so will deprive  more than 1,500 children of a meal that they solely depend on.   

This comes after the parents of pupils from Tamaho Primary School who fell ill over a suspected food-borne illness called for it to be discontinued.

Allegations are that the children ate samp and beans at the school then began vomiting and experiencing stomach cramps.

“It would be unfair to rule off nutrition because 50 parents say we should cancel it. Some parents have sent their children to school, and they know they will be having a meal, and we can’t inconvenience them," said Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona.

“We won’t disadvantage over 1,500 children a meal that they solely depend on because of the suspicion. Not that we are downplaying their concerns, but the decision was taken by the school governing body, and they represent parents.” 

On Wednesday, 110 pupils from the school were rushed to different hospitals after allegedly eating samp and beans from the school. Others were discharged the same day while 12 were kept overnight. They were discharged on Thursday morning.

On Thursday, the parents went to the school. While the gate was closed to keep them outside the school premises, they managed to get inside. Besides wanting the nutrition programme stopped, they also demanded to see the kitchen where the food is prepared.

However, they were not shown the kitchen like they asked.

SGB chairperson Nomfesane Sigudu said it was the first time children had fallen ill after eating food from the school nutrition programme.

She suggested that those parents who don't want their children fed at the school write down their names so that when lunch time comes, they would ask them not to eat from the feeding scheme.

However, less than 20 parents submitted their names.

One of the parents, Asemahle Soyiyane, 30, said her son will no longer eat from the school nutrition project.

Her son is one of the 12 pupils who were discharged on Thursday morning.

“I will have to prepare a lunch box for him,” said Soyiyane. “This is very scary, our children are getting sick and we don’t know what’s really going on. Doctors said I need to bring him for X-ray on Friday because they need to check him thoroughly and X-ray his lungs to ensure that there won’t be any problems in the future.

“I won’t allow him to eat at school ever again. I told him as well to never eat from the school nutrition programme. From now on he will carry a lunch box.”

Some parents have sent their children to school, and they know they will be having a meal, and we can’t inconvenience them.GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona.

Speaking to Sowetan, Mabona said they don’t serve the same meal every day. He also said the department of education's policy says the servers must dish out five more plates and store them in the fridge so that when something like this happens, they can take them for testing.

Asked what measures the department will now take to ensure that the storage, preparing and handling of food won't be compromised in the future, Mabona said: "There is nothing that suggests that our storage has a problem."

Another parent who has twins at the school said when she got there, one of the children told her she just vomited, and “their tummies were burning”. 

“When I asked them what they ate, they told me they ate samp from the school,” said Zizipho Sithembu, 29. 

When the Sowetan team arrived at the school on Thursday, a pupil was walking around, holding his tummy.

His mother said they came back from the hospital at 1am on Thursday and were shocked that the child was having stomach cramps again.

“Yesterday, I saw a lot of ambulances at the school and that’s when I found out that children were sick and rushed to hospital. When we came back [from hospital], I asked my daughter what she ate and she said:, 'mama, I only ate samp from school and my stomach started getting hot’,” she said. 

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