Johannesburg - Several pupils from Emfundisweni Primary School in Alexandra township, north of Joburg, have been rushed to the hospital after they unknowingly bought and ate cookies allegedly laced with drugs on Wednesday.
The cookies were allegedly sold to the children for R1 by a vendor outside the school.
The pupils required medical assistance and were taken for treatment after they started complaining of dizziness and nausea during lessons.
Some pupils were also in the midst of writing the mid-year examinations.
Local School Governing Body secretary, Kenneth Vickerman told a local radio station that they have reported the matter to the Gauteng Department of Education and an investigation into the incident has been launched.
“All schools must be careful of the food contents sold by vendors near the schools because this happened before at one of our high schools two years ago. We are trying to investigate to see if there is a connection between the two incidents and if it is the same person doing this,” Vickerman told the radio station.
He pleaded with vendors selling products outside schools to report to the schools if they notice anything untoward being sold to school children.
"Parents must rather make lunch boxes, instead of giving kids money to buy," he also suggested.