By Anita Dangazele
A nine-year-old girl died, and six other children fell sick in two separate incidents after eating snacks from local shops in Qonce, Eastern Cape, on Thursday.
Anothando Kwindla, a Grade 4 pupil at Ngqika Primary in Zwelitsha, got sick after eating chips her grandmother had bought.
“I made them porridge before they left for school and gave them the chips to take to school. I heard from the other children she rides with in the scholar transport that she had eaten her chips while they were still waiting for transport to arrive,” said grandmother Thelma Stuurman.
Teachers soon came to tell her Anothando was at the clinic.
“We rushed to the clinic, and within just a few minutes, a nurse came out and told us that Anothando had passed on,” said the grieving grandmother.
Education MEC Fundile Gade confirmed the death.
“The district report states the learner started vomiting just after arriving in class in the morning, and teachers rushed to assist her. The learner was hurried to a clinic, where she was declared dead at around 8.40am,” Gade said.
The same day, six pupils at Luzuko Primary School in Sweetwater fell ill after eating snacks from a shop.
Health spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase said they were taken to Grey Hospital with breathing problems, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
This follows recent deaths linked to food bought from shops across South Africa. On Saturday, a 10-year-old died in Alexandra, Johannesburg, while her mother and brother were hospitalised.
Six children also died in similar circumstances in Soweto recently.
Pictured above: Nine-year-old Anothando Kwindla who died after allegedly eating chips from a local spaza shop.
Source: Supplied
