The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is urging the School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and the communities across the province to ensure the safety of learners.
This follows an incident at Emfundisweni Primary School in Alexandra where learners felt sick after eating alleged “space cookies” sold to them by a vendor trading outside the school premises.
The department intervened and brought environmental and health inspectors to the school.
Today, the DA conducted an oversight inspection at the school, and we were pleased that the affected learners were back at school.
The DA demands that the Gauteng Department of Education must establish an integrated safety approach inclusive of school SGBs and the community to avoid such incidents from happening again.
Gauteng schools lack a functional vetting process for vendors to ensure that learners are sold safe, hygienic, and healthy food.
Even though the vendors are trading outside of the school premises, the department has a responsibility to ensure that learners are safe and protected.
The DA reiterates its call for the department to start vetting all vendors trading outside school premises across the province. This will protect the learners from drugs and food poisoning.