​Koketso Maraba
 
Gauteng is facing a serious challenge as food poisoning cases continue to rise, particularly among schoolchildren. Over the past year, 30 children have died in 21 communities and nine schools, a tragic reminder of the deadly risks associated with unsafe food. The community of Naledi in Soweto was the hardest hit, with ten child deaths linked to a toxic pesticide known as Terbufos.
As part of a continuous campaign to educate the public, the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) visited Naledi on Friday, 6 June 2025, for a special community outreach event. The visit formed part of the build-up to World Food Safety Day, observed globally on 07 June 2025. The event aimed to raise awareness, offer practical food safety tips, and encourage residents to take responsibility for safeguarding their families' health.
Throughout the day, residents received hands-on advice on food storage, hygiene practices, and the dangers of using harmful chemicals in and around food. Health officials did live demonstrations and distributed educational materials designed to help people make safer daily choices.
Twelve-year-old Keamohetse Mokherane from Ikemeleng Primary School reflected on the experience: "At today's event, we learned a lot! We were taught about hygiene, how to wash our hands properly, and why it's important to wash our hands before eating. We also learned to always check the expiry date before eating anything."
MEC for Health, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, reinforced these lessons by saying "Clean hands save lives, wash them regularly with soap and water, especially before preparing or eating food, after using the bathroom, and after touching animals, to prevent the spread of harmful germs."
"Protecting your health means storing perishable food in the fridge within two hours, cooking meals thoroughly to kill bacteria, keeping raw and cooked foods separate, and always checking expiry dates before buying or eating any food products," stated the MEC stressing the importance of food handling.  
Johannes Manganya, a spaza shop owner in Naledi, emphasised the importance of health inspections in his business. He recalled, "An environmental health inspector came to my shop for a routine check and said it was clean. They even suggested that other shop owners should use my shop as a benchmark." 
He added, "Health inspectors have helped me; they taught me how to properly maintain my store." Looking ahead, he said, "I just wish more schools could also be taught about food safety, so learners can understand how to handle food properly."
The outreach forms part of a year-long campaign to prevent foodborne illnesses. With the theme "Food Safety Is Everyone's Business," the campaign is uniting schools, parents, health workers, and local leaders in a shared effort to stop the spread of unsafe food practices.
World Food Safety Day stands as a reminder that safe food saves lives. By working side by side government and communities can turn the tide on the crisis and create a safer, healthier future for all.