‘He is fighting’: mother of Soweto child admitted to ICU after surviving food poisoning

The mother of a Soweto child fighting for his life in Lesedi Private Hospital couldn't contain her tears when describing what doctors had told her about her son's condition.

Lydia Olifant, the mother of Katleho Olifant, 7, the only child who survived the alleged food poisoning which killed five children on Sunday in Naledi, Soweto, said her son was fighting for his life.

“I am not OK at all. My son is fighting like I don't know. He is in the ICU at Lesedi. He is on and off, on and off, the doctors are telling me that there is nothing they can tell me,” she said before she burst into tears.

She said her son, in grade 1 at Karabo Primary School, was shaking on Monday, but on Tuesday, the doctors told her he was better. She said the doctors told her they were trying to drain the poison.

“It's bad, they can't tell me whether he is going to be fine. I must just pray because they were like, he is fighting for his life,” she said.

Kathleho’s friends from two different streets in the vicinity, who were playing together on Sunday, ate snacks allegedly bought at a local tuck shop close to their homes. 

Zinhle Maama, 7, and Monica Sathekge, 6, lived on the same street as Katleho, while Njabulo Msimango, 7, Karabo Rampou, 8, and Isago Mabote, 7, stayed on the same street. The five children died after allegedly eating poisoned snacks.

Karabo Rampou’s grandmother Nani Rampou said her grandson was smart and loved by his teachers. She said when the incident happened, she was in Polokwane and only went back home on Monday.

She said they told her that her grandson shared the snacks with the other children, then they all went to their homes.

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“When he arrived he sat in front of the house, and they asked him if he was fine and he said he was OK. After that he went next door.” When her grandson was at the neighbour’s house he started feeling dizzy. Her grandson arrived at the hospital with the other child, and the doctor checked them and confirmed that they ingested poison.

“It is so painful. He was a child who loved to go out and play with other children. Even at school, his teachers loved him. He used to say, Mom [his teacher] loves me. The way she loved him because he was a child who was active at school and saw that maybe in future he would be something,” she said.

Isago Mabote’s grandmother, Agnes, said her grandson had left the house around 1pm to play with his friends.

She said when he returned to the house, he was kicking the door. “I had his mother reprimand him and ask him why he kicked the door when entering the house. He told his mother that he was shaking. ‘I am dizzy,’ then he threw himself in front of me and said, ‘Mama, help me I am dizzy, I am shaking,’” said the grandmother.

She asked him what he had done as children are naughty. Isago was shaking and sweating. He told her he had wanted to go play at the park but felt dizzy and came home.

“When I touched him, I felt his heart beating faster,” she said.

She said he was afraid he would die, and asked him to sleep a bit. She said he was blinking his eyes while sleeping and started releasing brownish foam from his mouth and nose.

“His mother went to look for transport. We asked him what he had eaten. He said he ate snacks. He was trying to speak but couldn't.. When the transport left with him, the woman from the next door asked for it to stop and said there was another child, and it was his friend,” she said.

She added that Isago and Karabo spent no more than 30 minutes in hospital before the doctors told them the children had died.

City of Johannesburg MMC of health and social development Ennie Makhafola visited Naledi along with MEC of social development Faith Mazibuko.

Makhafola mentioned the last incident in Naledi when the children fell sick after eating biscuits. She said since that incident the city had initiated blitz programmes in Soweto to inspect shops. 

“We have been doing those blitzes working with the department of public safety from the City of Johannesburg. We have been doing these inspections with our environmental health practitioners,” she said. 

She said the spaza shop where the children allegedly bought the snacks was last inspected in August. .

“The recent one was done in August, and so far nothing was found out of the ordinary. Samples have been taken and sent to the laboratory for testing, and we are awaiting results. The tuck shop was compliant, but unfortunately the community had already looted this spaza shop, but we did find the samples,” she said.

Makhafola said they were able to run tests on the snacks.

“They even took those brown dash [snacks] with them. We just hope no-one actually eats those snacks so that we avoid other tragic losses. Until we get the results, that's what we all have to say,” she said. 

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi said he was deeply saddened by what had happened.

“The police have given us an extensive report ... It was a difficult task to move from one family to another because these families are paralysed by this turn of events. The families have established a committee that will decide how they will manage, either the funeral or the situation that they found themselves in,” he said.