By Everson Luhanga
- Dr Knak Primary has held a memorial for 10-year-old Lesedi Maaboi who died after eating suspected poisoned snacks.
- Gauteng MEC Lebogang Maile wants action on food safety as locals call for stricter controls on spaza shops in the area.
Dr Knak Primary School in Alexandra held a memorial service for 10-year-old Lesedi Maaboi, who died after allegedly eating poisoned snacks that also put her mother and brother in hospital.
The Grade 4 pupil died at Masakhane Clinic on Saturday 2 November. Her mother, 38, and four-year-old brother were treated at Edenvale Hospital and released this week.
The death has caused anger in Alexandra, where residents want action against certain spaza shops.
On Tuesday, after a meeting at San Kopano Hall, residents marched to the police station demanding officers help them remove foreign shop owners.
Police are watching the township closely, though things were calm on Wednesday.
Gauteng Finance MEC Lebogang Maile, who visited the grieving family on Monday, called for a state of emergency after recent food poisoning cases.
“There’s a problem if there’s poisonous food on the shelves,” Maile said. “This food is manufactured somewhere, so we have to look at the whole value chain and not just at the food on the shelves.”
He asked residents to work with police and health inspectors investigating the case.
Lesedi will be buried on Saturday 9 November in Phiring Village, Burgersfort, Limpopo.
Pictured above: Activist Linda Twala, known as the Father of Alex, visited Joshua Maaboi and his four-year-old boy Refentse who was discharged from hospital after eating poisonous snacks.
Source: Everson Luhanga
