Number of children dying of poisoning keeps rising

Three more kids die in Ekurhuleni

Siblings Owami and Hope Xaba, Lwethu Sikonde, Lesedi Mulaudzi, Njabulo Msimango, Zinhle Masilela, Isago Mabote, Monica Sathege, Karabo Rampou, Katlego Oliphant, Anothando Kwindla and Munei Mulaudzi.

These are the names of some of the children who have died after eating snacks from spaza shops in the past month.

Nine of the deaths occurred in Gauteng.

The families looked forward to them achieving their dreams, but they died between October 6 and November 3.

In the latest incidents in Ekurhuleni, three children  (the Xaba siblings and Lwethu) died on October 30 and November 3, respectively.

On Tuesday, Thabisile Xaba said her grandchildren – Hope, 9, and Owami, 6 – had been sick since last week Monday following a case of suspected poisoning at Sonqoba Primary School in Katlehong.

However, provincial education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the siblings were not among the 32 children from the school who were taken to a medical facility on the day.

Recalling her grandchildren's condition, Xaba said: "The boy [Owami] started getting sick on Monday, when I came back from work I found him sleeping on his bed. I asked his mother what was going on and she said he was sick but she didn't know why. "On Tuesday, they [Owami and Hope] went to school as normal."

Xaba said when the kids came back from school on Wednesday,

their mother gave them R1 each. They then went to a spaza shop and came back with a sachet of flavoured drink and chips.

She said that night their mother woke her up, saying the children were unresponsive.

Emergency personnel were called and declared the children dead.

Boitumelo Sikonde, whose brother Lwethu, 10, died on Sunday morning after experiencing severe stomach cramps and diarrhoea, said they believe the juice he bought from a vendor was poisonous.  

According to the family, the grade 5 pupil from Kwanele Primary School had eaten pap and sour milk from the school nutrition programme during lunch and bought juice from a vendor on Thursday.

He was fine when he left, when I came back from work he was lying on bed and my mother told me he was having stomach cramps; he had eaten milk and pap at school.Boitumelo Sikonde

Boitumelo, 24, said her brother was fine when he left home on Thursday morning but came back sick. "He was fine when he left, when I came back from work he was lying on bed and my mother told me he was having stomach cramps; he had eaten milk and pap at school. He would sometimes go with salt to school because it was his favorite meal.

"On Friday, he didn't go to school because of a running tummy. In the afternoon, they took him to clinic where they gave him pills to stop the running tummy. The running tummy stopped but he was getting weaker and could not stand up straight.

"On Saturday morning, he was sweating and weak. In the evening he ate but vomited. We arranged for e-hailing to pick him up, but it was too late. They declared him dead on arrival at the clinic," she said. 

Anothando Kwindla, 9, a grade 4 pupil at Ngqika Primary School in Zwelitsha, died on Thursday after eating snacks from a local spaza shop.

Five other pupils fell ill.

Mabona said on Monday, another food poisoning incident was reported at Setsing Primary School where 29 pupils were affected after eating snacks bought from vendors inside the school premises.

Mabona said parents were up in arms but the department had engaged with them.

Following the deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto, health inspectors were sent to the area to take swabs from various spaza shops.

Friends Njabulo, Zinhle, Isago, Monica and Karabo died on October 6 while Katlego died a week later.

Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the cause of death was organophosphate.

However, it was not known what the source of the insecticide was.

Lesedi Mulaudzi  fell ill after allegedly  eating snacks she bought from  the spaza shop. She died in Alexandra, Johannesburg, on Saturday. Her mother and four-year-old brother, who also ate the snacks, also fell ill and were taken to hospital.

Gauteng acting premier and MEC for roads and transport Kedibone Diale-Tlabela on Tuesday visited the Owami, Hope and Lwethu's families.

She said: "As a mother I am pained. I feel like this is an attack on our children and surely we need to do something about it. As a society, we must work together and make sure we deal with the challenge. Different government departments have been investigating.

"We are encouraging parents to encourage kids not to buy things that are not benefitting them health-wise. The chips that they buy from spaza shops have no health benefits, more than anything we are losing them to these snacks,” she said. 

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