We had enough, say children after suspected food-poisoning death

Children from Khubvi Primary School went on the rampage last Thursday, breaking into shops owned by foreign nationals and grabbing packets of chips, which they then spread out on the street and destroyed.

This incident followed the news that their schoolmate, 13-year-old Munei Mulaudzi, had died at a local clinic after allegedly consuming food he obtained from a spaza shop in Khubvi village last Monday. The school's Grade 7 learners expressed their anger by targeting small shops owned by foreigners in the village.

The learners, who did not want to be photographed individually, said they were fed up with the expired and rotten food sold by some vendors. “We are dying as young people in this country, and nothing is being done to protect us. Now it is time for us to stop all foreign businesses in this village to save our lives,” one of the children said.

When asked about his age as he appeared older than a typical primary-school student, he said he was 15 years old. He explained that he had started school late because of poverty but vowed not to remain silent just because he was older than his peers.

After destroying packets of chips at the shops near the school, the children moved on to other parts of the village, continuing their looting.

According to the chairperson of the street committee where Munei Mulaudzi lived, Mr Ndivhuwo Ramudzuli, the boys were playing football when a businessman, who was opening a new shop in the area, called them over shortly after 16:00 on Monday afternoon.

Ramudzuli said the businessman asked them to help unload stock and later gave them packets of chips as a token of appreciation. “The five boys did not tell their parents about eating the snacks when they got home, but they later experienced stomach pains and started vomiting,” he said.

He added that two days later, the principal of Khubvi Primary School called the parents to come to the school and take their children to the local clinic for treatment. Mulaudzi died shortly after arriving at the clinic.

The father of Munei, Mr Colbert Makuya, and his wife, Mary, said they were deeply saddened by their son's death.

In an interview on Sunday morning, Makuya said he still found it hard to believe that their son was gone. “We hope that the authorities will ensure the businessman who gave our son those chips faces the full might of the law,” he said.

When asked if he was certain that his son had died because of eating the specific packets of chips, Makuya said that while he was still waiting for the results of the postmortem, he was convinced that his son had not been sick before eating the chips. He noted that other children also began vomiting after consuming the chips.

The Khubvi Civic Organization has decided to close all foreign-owned businesses in the village until Munei Mulaudzi’s burial, to prevent any unnecessary confrontations between residents and foreign business owners.

Munei Mulaudzi will be buried at Khubvi Cemetery on Saturday, 2 November.

Date:01 November 2024

By: Victor Mukwevho

Victor Mukwevho Ne-vumbani joined the Mirror during it's inception in 1990. He joined the SABC newsroom in 1995, and was known by  listeners as "A u fhedzisela ari". He was a news editor for The Tembisan Newspaper from 2007 to 2015. He rejoined the Limpopo Mirror newspaper in June 2022 as a freelance journalist.

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