The Department of Education in North West says it will fully investigate concerns and allegations raised following the death of an 8-year old learner from GJ Podile Primary School in Mahikeng.

It is alleged that the deceased girl and her 10-year old sister bought snacks from one of the hawkers near the school in Ramosadi village.

The pair allegedly complained of stomach cramps when they got to school and were later rushed to the local clinic where the 8-year-old was declared dead, while her older sister was admitted in ICU.

The bereaved family whose identity is hidden to protect the 10-year-old child, says it is still battling to come to terms with this tragedy as many questions remain unanswered.

”According to us, the death happened at the school. One died and the others is in ICU but we believe that the deceased girl died and was kept at the school for close to two hours and the school didn’t even call us, that the children where sick and one died. What hurts us the most is that they didn’t even call an ambulance to attend to these children. It’s really painful to us as a family we can’t even sleep and that’s why we keep questioning how could something like this happen”.

Meanwhile, the Education Department’s spokesperson Mphata Molokwane says investigations into the matter continue.

“It is not true that the school did not respond on time. We have tried many times to reach the family while the learners were showing some signs of illness and unfortunately, we could not find the parents on time and the teacher used her own vehicle to transport both the learners, because there was a bit of a delay for the ambulance to arrive at the school on time. So, as the Department of Education on the matter of the learner being forced to wipe the vomit, we can highlight that we are still going to further investigate if those allegations are really true.”