An eight-year-old boy pricked his finger on a syringe needle while scavenging for food at an Eastern Cape landfill site where bags of medical waste were dumped at the weekend.

The consignment of medical waste — including umbilical cords, used needles, surgical gloves, drips, used nappies, personal protective equipment (PPE) and blood samples — was discovered by pickers at the Bedford dump site on Sunday...