Five die in Ghanzi after drinking Khadi

The death toll of people who died after consuming Khadi at Qabo Settlement in Ghanzi District has risen to five this week.

Officer Commanding District No.6 (Ghanzi) Senior Superintendent Mokolobetsi Marata explained that of the five deceased, three were women and two men. Among the deceased males was the brewer of the lethal homemade concoction. Marata stated that the fifth person died on Monday. He said one person is still hospitalised.

“We are awaiting postmortem report to establish what could have caused the death. The unfortunate part is that the person who brewed the beer is also dead and we do not know how many people have consumed this drink. They drank this drink at Qabo settlement in the Ghanzi district,” said Marata who feared that more people could still die.

Marata stated that the first report was received early this month after the deceased consumed the drink at the end of last month. He said a sample of the drink has been taken to the laboratory to find out if the drink has the known ingredients being water, brown sugar and moretlwa.

“It is common knowledge that Khadi does not kill. But we are alive to allegations that these days people add other things to improve fermentation and some of these ingredients could be harmful,” he stated. He cautioned Khadi brewers to desist from adding ingredients that are harmful. He said known ingredients for making Khadi should be used.