Don’t take candy from strangers!
Maxmind had been embroiled in an increasingly frustrating series of confrontations with a woman selling store-bought and homemade goods out of the trunk of her car, right outside the school.
Maxmind Private School has decided they have had enough.
When three children became ill after purchasing icies from the car boot of a street vendor, the school decided that drastic measures were necessary.
At first, Maxmind asked the woman to relocate her operation which is situated between Eastdene Combined School and Maxmind Private School, which she would happily agree to. However, by the next day, she simply moved a few parking spots over from where she originally sold her goods.
Maxmind then urged their learners to avoid buying any products from the woman, but kids will be kids. The woman offered prices lower than the surrounding tuck shops and stores, enticing the children to remain loyal to her.
In fact, the woman is often accompanied by her own children when selling to the learners of Maxmind Private School and Eastdene Combined School.
The street vendor is sometimes accompanied by one or two men, who nonchalantly wait inside the car until she concludes business.
A Middelburg Observer reporter investigated the scene on April 19, where he encountered the vendor. She said that her name was Shanze King and she had been selling outside the school for years.
Shanze told the Observer that the two men who often accompanied her, were her father and husband and that the children were hers. She passionately refuted the claim that she sells homemade goods, telling the Observer, “I do not sell any homemade products whatsoever.”
She did, however, not show the contents of the cooler box that was inside her car boot, she then later admitted that she did not have a permit to sell outside the school, stating that hers had “expired”.
In order to sell any food made from raw materials, a Certificate of Acceptability (COA) is required, which means conforming to basic food safety and hygiene requirements.
Without a permit and a COA, it is illegal to sell items on public property.
Jean Olivier, Director at Maxmind Primary School, pleaded with the journalist, “She is preying on the young children in our school. The fact that a grade one student and two other learners have become sick after eating the icies she sells is abhorrent! I went to the police to help resolve the situation, and they referred me to the municipality.”
“The municipality then referred me to the Municipal Police. I have also been to the Environmental Health Department. We are exhausting every avenue to keep our children safe, but that does not solve anything in the short term, hopefully with public awareness she will feel the need to sell her items elsewhere.”
