By Brig Dirk Lambrechts
An article entitled “Almost 90 Soshanguve pupils discharged after eating muffins (cookies) laced with dagga” was published on the IOL (Independent Online) news and information website dated 22 September 2023. The children became ill after they ate cookies laced with dagga which they purchased from a street vendor on their way to school.
According to this IOL news article, the SAPS is investigating the circumstances surrounding the said incident. Accordingly, a reader wants to know whether any offence has been committed here – be it by the vendor and/or by the children concerned?
Pollex provides the following answer:
The answer to our reader’s question is, more or less, contained in the Constitutional Court (“the Concourt”) judgment of the case of Centre for Child Law v Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Johannesburg and Others [2022] ZACC 35 (CC).
The said Concourt judgment is summarised as follows, together with comments by Pollex:
“This matter stems from a special review concerning four children who tested positive for cannabis (also referred to as ‘dagga’ and/or ‘marijuana’) during a school-sanctioned drug test. Each of the four children was alleged to have been in possession of cannabis, thereby committing an offence in terms of Schedule 1 of the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 …”
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[This is only an extract of an article that is published in Servamus: November 2023. This article is available for purchase.]