5 MKHUZWENI PRIMARY PUPILS DRINK POISON, HOSPITALISED

PIGG’S PEAK – How safe is your child at school?

This is a question some parents of Mkhuzweni Primary School must have asked themselves after five pupils were admitted to the Emkhuzweni Health Centre. The pupils, all doing Grade IV, had reportedly drank poison from a Coca Cola can. The incident is said to have happened last Monday and the pupils were admitted on the same day and discharged the following day.
It was gathered that one of the pupils, *Jack had arrived at the school with some Coke which he shared with his friends. Jack is said to have taken the drink from home. He is said to have picked an empty can of Coke from home and poured the soft drink from another container, which is said to have been in a refrigerator.  It is not clear where he picked the empty can from.
According to some of the parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Jack took the drink to school.

While at school, he is alleged to have met with his classmates where they shared the drink. Jack is said to have drunk from the can first while his friends waited for their turn. As he drank from it, he is said to have told his friends that the drink tasted strange. However, his friends did not believe when he said the drink tasted strange and accused him of wanting to drink it alone.  It was then that Jack is said to have given his friends who then also tasted and agreed that it tasted strangely. The group of friends then said they needed to dilute it with some juice, which they did and then drank it.  After drinking, all the pupils are said to have begun to feel pains in the stomach and rolled on the ground. Jack is said to have also fallen ill like the others. Fortunately for the pupils, the school is situated opposite the Emkhuzweni Health Centre and they were rushed there.

Police

Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed that the matter had been reported to the police.  This publication also gathered that samples from the poisonous drink were collected by the police as well as the hospital for testing to determine what poison it was. Some parents, however, claimed the poison could have been a popular pesticide known as Masta900. The pesticide kills army worms, but it is also popular among dagga growers as it keeps the illicit herb looking greener.  It is obvious that by sharing the drink, the pupils violated the COVID-19 regulations. One of the strict regulations followed by the school is that pupils should not share drinks.

However, according to the Head teacher, Boy Dlamini, four of the pupils lived together as their parents were teachers at one of the high schools. A parent to the pupil who brought the poisonous drink is also said to be a teacher. Dlamini said because of their bond, the pupils had decided to share the drink. He said even when the pupil who brought the drink warned the others that it tasted different, they thought he was only teasing them and decided to taste it as well. However, the head teacher said following the incident, the school would no longer allow drinks brought in using branded containers. He said pupils often used branded containers to bring juice.  He said the danger with this was that they could also be used for pesticides.
“Pupils now need to use juice bottles,” he said. He said only proper juice bottles would be allowed in the school as these were safe. He said no one could put a pesticide in a juice bottle but that they could do so in an empty can of coke. Dlamini said they had also tightened rules on sharing food, in general, to avoid such instances in future.

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