Pupils laid to rest after deaths by poison

THE uncle of two of the three pupils who died after eating suspected poisoned food wants to remove his children from the school.

Cousins Precious Mahlangu, 6, and Mbal'enhle (Mbali) Msiza, 8, as well as Sibongile Mahleya, 8, pupils at Emma Primary School, died at the Winterveldt Clinic north of Pretoria after falling violently ill last Friday.

At the children's funeral yesterday, Mbali and Precious's uncle Klaas Mahlangu told Sowetan he was going to remove his children from the school "because the person who did this is on the school premises".

"Just look at their obituary, they went to daycare then school and their lives were ended. It is painful," he said.

Mahlangu said this despite pleas by Bishop Molly Rapudi who in her sermon told the gathered mourners : "I want you to let go of the anger in you, it will not help. It will not get the children out of these coffins."

The pupils are believed to have eaten cookies and samp offered by the school's feeding scheme during lunch. Sibongile brought the cookies to school.

Sibongile's grandmother Lindiwe Mahleya gave her five cookies and juice the morning of the day she died.

Mahleya said police collected samples of the cookies from her home two days after the tragedy. "All I want is for the police to tell us the food that the children ate which contained the poison," she said.

Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Sarah Leshabane said police were investigating the matter.

ratsatsip@sowetan.co.za

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