Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has announced plans to prohibit the use of pesticides on school premises after several children died from exposure to a toxic chemical.
The pesticide, Terbufos, was linked to the deaths of five children in Soweto who consumed snacks from a local spaza shop.
While traces of the chemical were found in their bodies, the exact means of exposure remains uncertain.
Gwarube emphasised the urgency of addressing the issue, given the circulation of the dangerous chemical in communities and spaza shops.
“I will be gazetting and moving to ban the use of insecticides and pesticides on school premises. As Minister Steenhuisen said, these kinds of pesticides are for industrial and agricultural use. There is no reason for them to be on the premises of our schools,” she said.
The minister also highlighted ongoing discussions with provincial Departments of Education to safeguard feeding schemes from contamination.
“The priority is to make sure that the school nutrition programme, which feeds 9.7 million learners every single day, is protected from being compromised because we want to make sure that those who are food handlers and distributors of the school nutrition programme are adhering to very strict guidelines.”
To further protect learners, the department plans to strengthen regulations for food handlers involved in school nutrition programmes, ensuring that strict compliance measures are in place to prevent any compromise to the safety of meals provided to students.
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