122 Mamelodi West learners rushed to hospitals after suspected food poisoning

According to the information received from the school, the affected learners ate tinned fish and rice at the school the day before.

Charles Mabaso, deputy chief of Tshwane emergency services, said they received a call about the learners.

“At the moment, it is suspected to be food poisoning,” said Mabaso.

“But it is unclear as to what is the exact cause might be, because learners had cramps in the morning but their last meal before that was the day before.”

He said Tshwane emergency services and private vehicles, belonging to teachers and other people, were used to take the affected learners to Mamelodi regional hospital, Stanza Bopape clinic and Holani clinic.

Mabaso confirmed that the learners were all in a stable condition.

Eight ambulances and a “disaster bus” were deployed but not all of them were used as many of the learners had already been taken to the health facilities using other vehicles.

Chairperson of the school governing body Mbona Phalane said he was on his way to the school to drop a child off when he came across learners complaining about stomach cramps.

He took the learners back to the school and found that the school was already busy taking the children to the hospital and clinics.

According to him, the school has already reported the matter to the health department.

“Teachers informed the parents about the situation at the school,” said Phalane.

“We will continue communicating with parents should there be any changes.”

When Rekord spoke to him, Phalane said some of the children were already being discharged.

“We are very happy to hear that,” he said.

“If the cause was food poisoning, we will inform parents to prepare lunch boxes for their children instead of eating at school.”

Distraught parent, Dora Xaba said she ran as fast she could after she heard about the possible food poisoning.

She described the scene at the school upon her arrival as “chaos” with teachers running up and down and ambulances arriving and departing.

“Luckily, no one has died; but the Department of Health must please run tests on both the learners and the food they ate yesterday to determine what the reason behind the whole thing might be.”

Xaba said she was worried about the learners’ health, even though some had been given medication before being discharged.

Learners at the school told Rekord it was the first such incident at the school and many blamed the tinned fish they ate the day before.

Others expressed their disbelief at what was happening.

“We thought we were all going to die,” one learner, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.

The Department of Education has yet to comment.