While it still would not be acceptable for the sub-standard items to be supplied to adults, it is even sadder that these people have total disregard for the best practices and find it reasonable to supply 'their counterfeits' to schools, in the process endangering innocent lives.
Children need protection, and someone who potentially knowingly endangers their health and probably their lives should be given harsh punishment. The Francistown City Council (FCC) recently announced that a company that supplied the council with 'fraudulent' peanut butter worth P300,000 to be distributed in schools has made an undertaking to supply the proper product. Well, that is commendable on their part but... Firstly, how did the company get to a point of supplying a product that they did not agree on with the relevant authorities? There is also the issue of tampering with packaging, which makes one wonder whether the deed was intentional. The company had allegedly promised to supply Goody Thokoman peanut butter but ended up supplying a different brand, with 'fake' Goody Thokoman labelling. In our article FCC city clerk, Lopang Pule is quoted as saying: “The company has since made an undertaking to supply the right product to the council. Initially, the company took the fake peanut butter (last week Tuesday), but the council officials later confiscated and destroyed it. We did not want the peanut butter to end up being sold or reach unsuspecting members of the public because it was deemed unsuitable for human consumption.” Who would be so heartless as to supply innocent lives with such products? We do understand that there may be other circumstances that led to the mix-up, but it is totally unacceptable to be that deceitful and endanger the health of our future leaders. FCC should be applauded for taking action against such issues since we already know this kind of incident is quite common in the government tendering system. The sad reality is that the culprits go unpunished. Every individual or group of people who start a business do so with the hope of taking the business to greater heights of success, but that does not in any way entail cutting corners. Most businesses that care about success offer the best service so that clients will keep coming back after the first experience, but if one decides to deceive clients that is another issue altogether. A re itsoseng Batswana betsho!
