Child hospitalised after taking rat poison

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OurHealth learnt about the incident from the little boy’s aunt who was on her way to the Bokonhout Clinic to see her nephew who was being treated there. She told OurHealth that her nephew, Sibusiso, accidentally ingested rat poison while in the care of his grandfather.

Apparently Sibusiso took rat poison, known as ‘maponyane’, mistaking it for sweets. Noticing the child was chewing something, his mother asked him what he was eating, and he replied ‘sweets’. She then ignored it thinking his grandfather must have given him a sweet.

However a couple of minutes later Sibusiso collapsed and was rushed to the clinic, and from there was referred to Odi Hospital for further examination.

Sibusiso’s shocked mother said: “From today I won’t leave my son unattended for five minutes.” His aunt said that people need to be reminded to keep rats poison in a safe place, out of reach of children.

“What happened to little Sibusiso is a careless mistake that need no repetition, rats poison need to be kept safe,” she said.

Tshilidzi Tuwani is an OurHealth Citizen Journalist reporting from Soshanguve in the Tshwane health district in Gauteng.