Legal action has been ordered against a company that supplied sanitisers to Makaula Senior Secondary School – where 204 pupils and staff tested positive for COVID-19 – for “defrauding” the Eastern Cape Education Department, reports News24.
This is after a report in possession of the Eastern Cape Health Department revealed that sanitisers used at the 1,000-bed boarding school, and nine other schools in the district, was sub-standard and contained low volumes of alcohol. To kill germs, levels of alcohol in a bottle of sanitiser must be at least 70%.
The test, conducted by Rhodes University pharmaceutics professor Roderick Walker, has shown that samples of sanitiser supplied to Makaula contained only 57.6% alcohol. Walker had conducted tests on sanitisers supplied to 10 schools in the Alfred Nzo District, with results showing alcohol contents ranged from 4.1% to 57.6%. The schools included Jolobe Junior Secondary School (40.1%); Nkulisa Primary School (31.9%); Mbodleni Senior Secondary (33.1%); and St George's Senior Secondary (34.2%).
In the report about the results, Walker said the samples he tested were not in the original containers, therefore he could not tell whether they were tampered with at the schools. In a message addressed to Education Department's superintendent-general Themba Kojana, Education MEC Fundile Gade accused the supplier of defrauding the department. Gade confirmed the department was planning to launch legal action against the supplier.
“What this service provider has done is utterly shameful and unethical. Their carelessness and shoddy workmanship has effectively put the lives of children and teachers in danger.”
The principal of Makaula Senior Secondary is in hospital with COVID-19, according to TimesLIVE. Luzuko Mbana (52) received his test results on Wednesday afternoon and had to be airlifted to a private hospital in KZN. Mbana’s wife, Nombini, said her husband was tested along with pupils at his school last week, but his results were delayed.
“He started with flu symptoms and then got gravely ill. On Monday we took him to our private doctor and his results came back positive,” she said.
[link url="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/court-action-after-shoddy-sanitisers-supplied-to-school-where-200-tested-positive-for-covid-19-20200717"]Full News24 report[/link]
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-07-01-principal-of-eastern-cape-school-where-200-pupils-tested-positive-airlifted-to-hospital/"]Full TimesLIVE report[/link]