Ban halephirimi, Lesufi pleads as Gauteng kids die of rat poison
Three siblings allegedly poisoned by their father in Heidelberg last week was laid to rest on Saturday.
Law enforcement confirmed the siblings were given an energy drink on the fateful morning, laced with rat poison.
The boys were pupils at Ratanda Primary and Khanya Lesedi Secondary Schools in Ratanda, south of Heidelberg.
They’ve since been identified as Lehlogonolo Khoabane (16), Katleho Khoabane (13) and Tebogo Ngcongwane (6).
A fourth sibling is recovering in hospital and a fifth was unscathed.
The mother’s life was also spared.
The father, who tried to take his own life, remains under police guard in hospital.
Gauteng Education Panyaza Lesufi attended the funeral.
“Here we are teaching our children to accept death rather than teaching about what they need to know about life,” he told a packed hall.
“The pain is deep, the pain is difficult.”
Lesufi called for a ban on the rat poison commonly known as halephirimi.
“Is it not time that this poison called halephirimi is restricted and is not made easily available in our communities? We can’t allow this poison to finish all of us.”
Lesufi’s call was heightened by the death of another trio of siblings in Ivory Park after eating meat laced with rat poison, a trap allegedly set by their grandparent to deal with rodents.
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