By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, reveals a chemical believed to be linked to the deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto has been identified.
Motsoaledi made the announcement during a media briefing held alongside the African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee meeting in Boksburg on Friday.
This follows a string of reported child deaths linked to food from foreign-owned spaza shops.
Monica Sebetwana (6), Ida Maama (7), Isago Mabote (8), Karabo Rampou (9) and Njabulo Msimanga (7) died on Sunday, 6 October after eating chips from a local spaza shop that authorities determined were contaminated by a chemical agent. The last surviving child, Katlego Olifant (7), died on Sunday, 13 October after a week-long battle in intensive care.
Shortly afterwards, 74 matric pupils were admitted to hospital in the West Rand from a suspected food poisoning incident. The Grade 12 pupils aged between 17 and 20, from Fochville Secondary School, Badirile Secondary School and Wedela Technial School were part of a matric camp at the Foschville Secondary School.
Last Thursday, 25 pupils were taken to medical facilities for suspected food poisoning after they showed symptoms of itching and stomach pains 30 minutes after eating snacks from a street vendor near the school in Zithobeni, Bronkhorstspruit.
Motsoaledi previously announced that a plan has since been put into place to mount a systemic search for the agent causing this malady, and that action will be accelerated during the coming weeks.
He said the arrests followed information from spaza shop owners, who pointed authorities to a supplier believed to be selling a chemical suspected to have contaminated the food.
“They did confess that there is an illegal chemical, which they buy from their mall, 27 officials visited that mall and they confiscated 1456 gram of that chemical.
“Four people were arrested, one man and three women, two of them in terms of the laws of the country where given bail of R2000. The others are still in custody.
“The confiscated chemical is in Johannesburg Central prison,” said Motsoaledi.
He acknowledged pressure from the public and the concern that the government is doing nothing.
“I know that we are under pressure that we are doing nothing while people are dying, but we can’t just rush and make conclusions.
“So we have a team on the ground doing investigations, forensic pathologists are there, epidemiologists are there, and some clinicians who specialize in symptoms of somebody who has been chemically poisoned.
They have these swaps of children that have been taken, and the files of these children, they are scrutinising all those things and the postmortem results to try and make out exactly what we are dealing with.”
Gauteng has recorded more than 200 cases of food poisoning affecting children since February. Ten of these cases have resulted in death.