DA Calls for Probe Into Food Poisoning of 74 West Rand Female Pupils at Camp

• An incident in which 74 female learners from three West Rand schools took ill at a matric camp raised alarm
• The pupils were rushed to local clinics and later taken to Carletonville District Hospital for treatment
• The Democratic Alliance (DA) hit out at the occurrence and demanded officials launch an investigation

WEST RAND — A suspected food poisoning occurrence that saw 74 Grade 12 female pupils in Gauteng admitted to health facilities on Thursday, 10 October 2024, drew sharp criticism.

The group from three West Rand schools — Fochville Secondary School, Badirile Secondary School, and Wedela Technical School — who were in a matric camp underwent treatment at Fochville and Kokosi clinics.

Calls for food poisoning probe

Afterwards, education officials acceded to the health department's instruction for further treatment at Carletonville District Hospital.

Read also

Videos circulating show purported Tshwane taxi violence breaking out

One other learner was taken to a private hospital.

However, no deaths resulted from the incident after the learners were later discharged. The Democratic Alliance (DA) demanded an urgent investigation after a similar incident in Naledi, Soweto.

In that incident, five children, aged seven to nine, fell ill and died after consuming alleged poisoned snacks bought from a spaza shop.

DA Gauteng Shadow Member of the Executive Committee (MEC) for Education and Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL) Sergio Isa Dos Santos called for immediate intervention.

"By all departments in collaboration with local authorities [and] the National Consumer Commission to investigate the food poisoning cases.

"The investigation should encompass handling and storage, production, retailing, distribution, processing, and packaging.

"This will determine whether the items are responsible for food poisoning. Alternatively, it will point to whether contamination arose from expiration or unsanitary preparation," said Dos Santos.

Read also

74 Carletonville Grade 12 learners admitted to hospital over suspected food poisoning, SA enraged

The party has initiated engagements with the Office of the Executive Mayor about deploying health and safety inspectors.

"This approach towards ensuring spaza shop compliance would [shed light] on the measures to prevent reccurring incidents," said Dos Santos.

"We aim to engage the education department to establish its plan to curb food poisoning during school camps and through their nutrition system."

Source: Briefly News