Postmortem results show that a rat poison was detected on the child who died allegedly after eating a packet of crack-a-snack bought from the local taxi rank.
A postmortem was conducted on two-year-old Azingce Mayeye.
It was widely reported that the child lost his life after consuming something bought from the rank at South Deep Gold Fields Mine in Westonaria, west of Gauteng early in October
Azingce was rushed to the Mandela Clinic in Bekkersdal, West Rand, where he was declared dead on arrival.
He was one of two children who died on the same day. The other two who also shared two packets of snacks were admitted to the hospital.
Azingce’s aunt Siziphiwe Mayeye said the family was still waiting to hear from police about the investigation when they learnt that a rat poison, known as halephirimi, had been detected on his nephew’s body.
“The police fortunately still have the crack-a-snack packet that the children ate and they took it for investigation,” said Mayeye.
“When they were at the house, they [the police] told us that they will investigate the packet and tell us if the same halephirimi has been found on the packet.
“We are still wondering how halephirimi was found on his body, because our suspicions were on the packet of snacks.
“They [the children] all shared the snacks and got sick. We are just waiting for the police to confirm what went wrong with my nephew.”
She said Azingce came home crying, noting that his eyes were red.
While he could not explain what was happening in detail, the family realised that he was running out of breath and quickly rushed him to the clinic where he was declared dead.
Operation Dudula still shocked
Operation Dudula member Davis Magolego said the organisation is shocked about the findings of the postmortem.
“We have managed to talk to the families of the children from South Deep [Gold Fields Mine compound] and the other one from Protea South, who also had crack-a-snack and died on the same day,” said Magolego.
“To our surprise, the ones from Westonaria show rat poison, but the Protea South case shows head injury.”
He said a postmortem form was blank on the side of personal details, noting that he suspects it does not belong to the deceased, as the child did not suffer head injury as stated.
The family of the child from Protea South could not be reached for comment.
Magolego said: “South Africans should learn that anything bought from the spaza shops owned by foreigners is not safe.
“They sell expired goods or just things that they produce themselves, and no organisation can confirm the safety of the things they sell.
“They fake branded products to lure us. What happened to these children in this short space of time should be a reminder of what we are facing as a country.
“Imagine being sold sanitary towels that expired in 2020, how will we fight cervical cancers if we still support this? Wake up South Africa.”
In a similar case, two children died and two others are still fighting for their lives in the hospital after allegedly sharing biscuits bought from a local spaza shop.
At a memorial service of Neo Khang and Leon Jele, their neighbour Lereko Molapise announced that the children reportedly died from rat poison.
Molapise said the families were told that a toxicology report was still to be conducted and it can possibly take a year to conclude.
