By Rosetta Msimango.
Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Development Lebogang Maile, alongside City of Johannesburg Speaker Nobuhle Mthembu, visited Alexandra to extend condolences to a family after a tragic incident in which a 10-year-old girl died, and her mother and her other child were left recovering in hospital from suspected food poisoning.
“This has gotten out of hand, it has gotten out of control; it can’t be that every week we bury a child,” Maile said during a media briefing in Alexandra.
He added that the president should declare a state of emergency.
“It appears this has escalated into a crisis which, hopefully, the president might have to declare as a state of emergency.”
The cause of death of the children who died in Naledi, Soweto, last month after sharing a packet of chips they bought from a local spaza shop has been identified as an organophosphate called “terbufos” that is used as a pesticide.
Their cause of death has been identified as exposure to an organophosphate called “terbufos”, which is used as a pesticide.
“We urge those trusted to be responsible for doing inspections to be aggressive,” Maile said.
Lesedi’s father, Joshua Maaboi, told News24 that “the government must do proper inspections in the shops; they should put more effort into doing the inspections”.