It has emerged that more than 100 pupils from Moduping Combined School in Bushbuckridge were hospitalized after suffering from food poisoning at the Mpumalanga school.
Although the incident happened in August, the Mpumalanga education and health authorities did not make the incident public at the time.
“Yes, I can confirm that on 25 August, 67 learners consulted [given medical attention] at Mapulaneng hospital complaining of abdominal cramps, headache, nausea, history of vomiting (sic) and diarrhoea. They were all seen by doctors and given treatment to take at home.
“The hospital was informed that other learners were taken to clinics and the Matikwana hospital,” said provincial health department spokesperson Dumisani Malamule.
“Sample’s results indicated the presence of yeast and moulds probably because it was not immediately tested at the lab. Cabbage leftovers were not found at school, while atchaar indicated the presence of Clostridium perfringens.”
Malamule has urged parents who need their children’s medical reports to interact with the facilities at which the children were consulted.
According to Wikipedia, perfringens food poisoning happens when a person eats food that was improperly cooked or stored in a bad way.
One of the parents, Veleminah Malapani, welcomed the news that the department divulged what exactly happened to their children. Malapani said parents had tried in vain to convince the school management to share with them the findings of the investigation concerning the matter.
“At least now we know what happened to our children. We would like to appeal to the school management to make sure that our children eat safe food.
“It pains me to see my child carrying his lunch box to school as he is no longer feeling comfortable eating at school.”
Another parent, who preferred to be addressed as “Mrs Mashego”, also appealed to the school to practice good hygiene to ensure the safety of the pupils.
“What happened to the children was very scary because some of them were vomiting blood, while others were vomiting non-stop,” said Mashego.
Mpumalanga department of education spokesperson Jasper Zwane did not respond to questions sent to him via WhatsApp.
For more education news from Sunday World, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
