Rumours spread like wildfire yesterday that a group of pupils allegedly fell ill at a Mitchells Plain school after eating sweets they had bought from a local vendor.
However, both the Western Cape Education Department and the school principal confirmed that no pupils became sick, but stated that the vendor’s expired sweets were confiscated.
When the Daily Voice arrived, the palie insisted that “nothing happened”.
However, she was later seen inspecting some lekkers that were scattered on her desk in her office.
According to an eyewitness, the principal along with two members from the Department of Health had confiscated sweets from a female vendor standing near the school.
The vendor, who asked to remain anonymous, denied that any children got sick from her sweeties.
“That’s not true,” she told the Daily Voice. “If the sweets had expired, I did not know about it.”
She says she wasn’t bothered by her goedtes being confiscated as she had “baie stuff I can do to survive”.
Meanwhile, a concerned parent, who didn’t want to be named, says she was the one who piemped the vendor to the authorities.
“I know some parents have complained already, so I took it upon myself and made contact with the law enforcement because the school couldn’t do anything as the vendor is not on school property.
“I have a child at the school, so I’m just concerned,” the mother says.
She slammed the vendor for selling old lekkers to children.
“If you want to make a living then you do the right thing. What if one of the children died of poisoning, so how can you sell expired stuff to the kids?”
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond says they are aware of the incident.
“The WCED can confirm that no learners were taken ill. It was found that a vendor operating outside the school was selling expired goods.
“Members of the health department and law enforcement confiscated the goods,” Hammond said.