As South Africa reels from sporadic incidents of suspected food poisoning, the National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) says government’s intervention has not been adequate to the crisis which has left several children dead.
IOL reported on Monday that the Ndlovu family from the Cabhane village in uMzumbe on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast is mourning the loss of three children who died after experiencing symptoms associated with food poisoning last week.
This comes after a spate of food poisoning cases across the country resulted in several deaths and hospitalisations.
Last week seven pupils from Bongucele Secondary School in Mtwalume were hospitalised when they became sick after they allegedly ate chips from a local vendor.
Reacting to the sporadic incidents, general secretary of the NASGB, Matakanye Matakanya said the deaths and illnesses have been going on for a while, without a solution in sight.
“You will remember that last year, we were crying, like we are crying now. The person who is doing this, we are not told. We want to call upon the government to really put everything in order and pull up its socks. It cannot be business as usual when we lose children like this,” Matakanya told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
“We have state departments – the department of agriculture, department of trade and industry, department of health, and we also have local government – that must really look after us. So, we are just on our own as Steve Biko once said ‘black man you are on your own’. We are on your own now.
He said government must divulge the real cause of the food related illnesses and deaths.
“The government must tell us who is behind this thing. I do not think this thing is happening in schools. It is happening outside schools so it is bigger than schools. We can try and say schools must do one, two and three things but this thing is bigger than schools. It needs government. I have stated State departments that must give us answers not tomorrow, not next week, now,” he said.
Last month, among many other incidents, IOL reported that a group of 25 learners from Mshuluzane Mayisela Primary School in Gauteng fell ill after consuming snacks purchased from street vendors outside the school.
At the time, Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Matome Chiloane expressed serious concern over the food-borne illnesses that broke out at the school in Zithobeni, Bronkhorstspruit.
IOL