An integrated development plan (IDP) meeting arranged by the Makhado Municipality nearly turned into a disaster when 69 people had to be rushed to hospital as they were experiencing stomach pains after having a lunch provided by a catering company.

Ward committee members, councillors and other municipal officials were attending an IDP meeting at Bungeni community hall in the Hlanganani area last Friday when they started complaining about stomach pains. This followed after they had all enjoyed a lunch prepared by a private catering company. The affected people were taken to the Louis Trichardt Memorial and Elim Hospitals, where doctors immediately attended to them. Most of the people were discharged the same day after being examined by the medical staff at the hospitals.

On Tuesday, Mr Abram Raswiswi of Ward 12 at Tshivhangani Ha-Mashamba village told Mirror that he was still feeling pains, but was recovering. “I was just afraid I was going to die. It all happened very fast. After eating the food, I started feeling pains in the stomach,” he said. He added that most of the people feared that it could be food poisoning, but luckily this was not the case.

Two other people who were suffering from stomach pains, Esther Ngobeni and Solomon Tshikovhela, were discharged from Elim hospital on Mon-day.

The doctors at the two hospitals, however, dismissed claims that it was food poisoning. “They have just contracted a bacterial infection, in all probability because of the heat when the food was served,” one of the doctors said.

The Speaker of the Makhado Municipal Council, Cllr Joan Hoorzuk, visited the patients at the two hospitals, but dismissed claims and rumours that the incident was as-sociated with food poisoning. “This was just an unfortunate incident,” she said. She added that the municipality had taken a resolution that on occasions such as this where food is supplied, the food must not be transported over long distances to the venues.