Residents of Selokolela settlement in Ngwaketse are still reeling in shock after a nine-year-old girl died hours after eating at a funeral last weekend.

About 100 people who ate at the funeral were hospitalised.

Selokolela chief Motlalethebe Legabala said that he was also affected after taking a few bites of pounded meat at the funeral. He said that he spent a sleepless night as he had pains in his stomach, a headache and a runny stomach.

"I spent the whole night moving between my bedroom and the bathroom. I was helped by my wife and mother who massaged my stomach. Perhaps that is why I was not hospitalised too. I recovered quickly," he said.

He said he was shocked the following day (last Monday) when his headmen came to his yard to report that his subjects were sick and have runny stomachs. "I was shocked to find them lying on the ground at the clinic. The nurse was off duty. It was a pitiful sight.

Fortunately, Kanye police heeded our SOS call and came to our rescue. They brought vehicles and police officers to transport the sick to Kanye for medical attention," he said.

Legabala stated that mourners ate samp and pounded meat at the funeral. "I am told people started feeling uneasy in the afternoon when they got back to their homes," he said.

He suspects foul play in the incident. He thinks someone with evil intent must have tampered with the food, while it was being prepared. He said if it was a case of the cooking pot being rusty then he would understand. "The pot used for cooking at the funerals in Selokolela is just one. When a household experiences death they use the pot.

On Saturday, the day before we ate at this funeral, there was another funeral in the village. No one complained of any sickness. In fact we have had many funerals where the pot was used. There is something that happened at that home, hence so many people fell sick," he said.

When contacted for comment, the owner of the home where the funeral was, Ikakanyeng Keolebile, said they were burying her sister's child on the fateful day.

She was at a loss as to what could have contaminated the food.

"As per tradition, I spent a lot of time inside the house mourning. I didn't see much and like everyone else, I don't know what caused this," she said.

She told Mmegi that in their ward, they have agreed to each contribute P10 each and hire a traditional doctor to come and investigate the cause of the problem.

Raonyana Mokweeneng, who was cooking the meat does not know what caused the food contamination.