North West Learner Dies After Eating Snacks Bought From a Street Hawker
- Two learners form Mahikeng in the North West bought snacks from a street hawker on 11 April 2025
- When they arrived at school, they complained that they had stomach cramps and they were rushed to hospital
- One of them passed away and the other child was admitted to ICU; the parents blamed the school for not calling for help on time; South Africans were reeling from the food-borne death
Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests and immigration in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.
Source: Getty Images
MAHIKENG, NORTH WEST — Parents of a child who died from eating snacks bought from a hawker in Mahikeng in the North West on 11 April 2025 demand that the school take responsibility for not reporting the child's symptoms on time.
What happened in Mahikeng?
According to SABC News, two little children, including the victim, were on their way to school in Ramosadi Village when they bought snacks from one of the hawkers. A little while after they arrived in school, they complained of stomach cramps and fell ill. They were rushed to hospital, where one of them reportedly died. The other child is in Intensive Care Unit.
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Parents want answers
The parents of the child who passed away accused the school of not making an effort to act by calling the ambulance. A family member said that they gave the school three phone numbers to call in case of an emergency, but they did not receive a call informing them that the children were sick.
Recently, a child from Mapetla in Soweto fell ill after she bought snacks from a spaza shop. The incident prompted a visit from the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital to visit the child.
Last year, the government declared food-borne deaths a national disaster. This was after the death toll of the children who died from food poisoning exceeded 50. The government introduced measures including compelling spaza shops to register their businesses.
Source: Getty Images
South Africans saddened
Netizens commenting on SABC News' Facebook post were devastated by the death.
Sipho Mnkandla said:
"They have been waiting for the re-registration process of spaza shops to end with the hope that there will be no foreign-owned spaza shops after that. Unfortunately there are still some foreign owned spaza shops operating, and these guys don't seem to be happy about that, so the killing of innocent kids continues."
Presh DollarBill spencer asked:
"Did the learner eat food served at school? Because this things only happen at school, but the same kids buy from spaza shops during school holidays and no case was reported."
Abdullah Inno Bin James said:
"The problem is not the seller, but the producer."
Aerol Kgastla said:
"South Africa needs to examine the situation and identify the root cause. The influence of drug cartels in the southern region may be a factor, with drugs or chemicals hidden with snacks for transportation."
Khambule said:
"Our government's response as to have all spaza shops registered. How was that going to end the problem?"
Woman fuming after buying spoiled juice
In a related article, Briefly News reported that a woman was angry after she bought juice from a spaza shop, only to find that it was rotten. She also discovered mould insidfe the juice.
The angry consumer posted a video which showed that the juice box was hut in half. She walked towards the shop with the intention to return the juice, and some netizens questioned the veracity of the video.
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Source: Briefly News
