[Watch] A year of heartbreak: Soweto families still seek Answers in Children’s Food Poisoning Deaths

Tow women holding photos of their grandchildren.
(Left) Dipuo Zikhali holds photos of her granddaughter Olwethu. (Right) Mathotha Malgas with a photo of her grandson, Neo. (Photos: Yoliswa Sobuwa)
Tow women holding photos of their grandchildren.
(Left) Dipuo Zikhali holds photos of her granddaughter Olwethu. (Right) Mathotha Malgas with a photo of her grandson, Neo. (Photos: Yoliswa Sobuwa)

A year of grief, and no answers: In October 2023, six-year-old Olwethu joined her six-year-old friend Leon and cousins Neo and Katlego, aged four , to buy biscuits and ice pops from a local spaza shop in Naledi, Soweto. Within hours of eating their treats, the children fell ill. Neo and Leon passed away.

To this day the families are still left with more questions than answers. The recent death of six more children from Naledi, after eating snacks from a local spaza shop, has raised painful memories. We caught up with the families, one year after the fact. Watch to learn more.

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