adminDurban — An Umhlanga mother says she is consulting a psychologist for her four children following the alleged poisoning of their food by their domestic worker. “The incident has traumatised the four children. They have asked that I don’t employ a domestic worker any more. I hope to respect their wish, but that will mean I have to be a housewife. I now have to get a psychologist so that they can overcome the ordeal,” Mandy de Lange said on Thursday.
She said the family discovered that their food was poisoned when she prepared coffee on Saturday morning and found it had an overwhelming taste.
The night before, one of her children had complained about a horrible taste in the bottle of milk she had prepared for her. “We had nausea, were vomiting and had cramps in our stomachs,” she said.
De Lange said when she checked the food in the refrigerator she discovered a powdery substance in the contents of food and mixed juice.
She said soon after the discovery of the powdery substance she alerted the security company and the police, who advised her to wait until Monday to open a charge when the domestic worker came to work.
She said when the domestic worker arrived at her house on Monday the security company refused her entry and questioned her about the food poisoning, but she denied it. However, when the police arrived 10 minutes later she had admitted to the food poisoning and then pointed out the food she had poisoned.
De Lange said it was sheer luck that she had discovered the food poisoning in time before her extended family’s visit. — AFP
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