12/10/2024
Naledi Five.
The tragic deaths of five children in Naledi, following their consumption of allegedly tainted snacks from a local store, have sparked significant community outrage ahead of a memorial service on October 11. Family representatives voiced their grief and called for government intervention to expedite investigations for closure.
Among the deceased were Karabo Rampou, nine, and six-year-old Monica Ofentse Sathekge, whose family lamented the loss of her dreams to become a teacher. The police are investigating the circumstances, with five inquest dockets potentially evolving into murder investigations.
This incident highlights a troubling rise in food poisoning cases among children in the region, including previous fatalities linked to similar incidents in Naledi and beyond. Recent reports have detailed additional food poisoning cases affecting schoolchildren in Limpopo and Gauteng, raising concerns about food safety and compliance in local vendors. The Gauteng Department of Education previously flagged the issue, with reports of multiple children falling ill from suspected contaminated food.
In 2023, food poisoning emerged as a pressing concern highlighted by the Gauteng Department of Education, following the tragic death of a six-year-old student from Mandlethu Primary School. This incident coincided with the hospitalization of four other children, aged two to nine, at Pholosong Regional Hospital due to suspected food poisoning.
A disturbing pattern has emerged, as food poisoning incidents have recurred in various areas. Notably, in October 2022, two children in South Deep, Gauteng, died after consuming tainted snacks from a local spaza shop, and a 14-year-old in Protea South also succumbed to suspected food poisoning from a similar source. Recently, a group of high school students in Merafong was hospitalized for food poisoning, and in Limpopo, 35 primary school learners were admitted under similar suspicions. These incidents underscore the ongoing and alarming prevalence of food safety issues within the community.
All in all, children are dying because of contaminated spaza-shop foods, parents and guardians are then asked to be vigilant at all times of what children are consuming.
