Pretoria - The City of Tshwane’s health department is assisting with an investigation into a possible food-borne disease incident at Rodney Mokoena Primary School in Soshanguve, where 78 pupils fell ill after being fed at school.
MMC for health Rina Marx said the pupils fell ill last Wednesday after consuming food prepared at the school and were treated at various medical facilities.
She said: “Environmental health practitioners from the City are supporting a Gauteng province outbreak response team investigation into the recent suspected case of food-borne disease at Rodney Mokoena Primary School in Soshanguve, where 78 learners were affected.”
The City’s health practitioners, she said, had been actively involved in assisting with the investigation.
“Food and water sampling as well as surface swabs were taken for laboratory testing. The results will be made available in the coming week. As the MMC responsible for health, I personally visited the school on Friday and met the acting principal,” Marx said.
During her visit she also inspected the facility where food was prepared. She said health practitioners used the opportunity to brief food handlers on the correct way to handle food.
“The recent incident brought to light the critical importance of Municipal Health Services, which is the mandate of the Health Department,” she said.
She said the primary purpose of Municipal Health Services was to ensure a clean, healthy and safe environment with a strong emphasis on preventing diseases.
The Health Services’ roles also included monitoring water quality, ensuring wholesome foods, ensuring pollution-free, hazard-free and vector-free environments and creating environments that are conducive for vulnerable groups.
“Monitoring food safety and hygiene is thus a critical component of Municipal Health Services. Since March 2012, all municipalities have assumed responsibility for the health compliance of all state-owned premises.
“Our small but dedicated team in Tshwane continue in their efforts to ensure compliance through inspections and monitoring,” Marx said.
Pretoria News