The parents at Pulamadibogo Primary School are up in arms and are demanding the banning of street vendors following an incident on Wednesday where 90 learners were rushed to hospital after they allegedly consumed muffins laced with weed bought from a street vendor.
On Wednesday, the Gauteng Department of Education confirmed that about 90 learners were rushed to nearby health facilities after they had allegedly consumed muffins laced with weed.
The parents said most of the pupils were discharged while four were still receiving treatment.
However, on Thursday teaching and learning continued while parents monitored the school to ensure their children’s safety.
A parent who opted to remain anonymous said she arrived at about 6:00 in the morning to monitor activities outside the schools.
“So as a parent this has affected me too much that is why I am here. I don’t work here at Pulamadibogo Primary School. I am a patroller around Soshanguve but this has scared me so I decided to come to patrol the school. I want to check what happens and also check hawkers but so far there were no hawkers that came. I got here at 6:00,” said the concerned mother.
“We are calling on the government to assist with more patrollers because in schools they only place one patroller per day. So we are asking for at least four patrollers with two stationed outside while two are stationed inside,” she added.
The mother of a 10-year-old pupil said her child was back at school after she was taken to a nearby clinic after she consumed space cookies.
“Yesterday they called me when I was at home and told me that my child had fallen ill. When I arrived at the school my child was complaining about stomach cramps and a headache. So we found that there were ambulances on the school premises so we took them to a clinic at block JJ. So far she is okay. The problem is that she complained about a headache but she is at school,” said the mother
Another parent, Thandi Nkosi said street vendors were posing a risk to learners and wanted them to halt operations at the school.
“As parents we have decided that we don’t want street vendors because we don’t know who has good and who has bad intentions. We are not fighting with parents who are trying to put food on the table for the children but the safety of our children is a priority to us parents.
“So the solution is that street vendors are no longer allowed. They will try to hustle in another way because we will lose a child next time” said Nkosi.
A community policing forum chairperson in the area, Maria Ralele described the incident as an attack on learners with a “clear intention of destroying the children’s future”.
“The issue here is that children were told to buy one and another one for free. This was a problem because they were forced to buy these space cookies. We think there is a clear intention to destroy the children’s future.
“If this thing was laced with weed and other drugs, we don’t know the extent of its impact on these children’s health . It may have other negative impacts on children. This is the fear we have as parents. We don’t know the long term effects of this incident. We are asking for assistance,” said Ralele.
Ralele called on government and law enforcement authorities to intensify efforts to ensure learners safety in all schools in Soshanguve.
The Gauteng Education department said a street vendor implicated in the incident has been identified and police are investigating the incident.
