Cape Town – Around 131 pupils from Gobisizwe Agricultural High School in Ngqeleni were treated for suspected food poisoning on Wednesday.
Emergency services responded after the school reported students experiencing dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, and abdominal pain.
The affected pupils were taken to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, Mthatha Regional Hospital, and Ngangelizwe Community Health Centre.
“At about 1pm, the department received a call from the school explaining that pupils were experiencing dizziness, some of them were vomiting, diarrhoea, while others experienced seizures and abdominal pain,” Eastern Cape department of health spokesperson Siyanda Manana said during an interview with Newzroom Afrika.
[WATCH] Eastern Cape Health Department’s Siyanda Manana gives more details following the hospitalisation of 70 Gobizizwe Agricultural High School learners for suspected food poisoning. Manana says health personnel reported that the learners became ill after consuming food at the… pic.twitter.com/Nxxziws7FR
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) August 13, 2025
“All those symptoms point to suspected acute food poisoning. They ate rice and tin fish, so we suspect it is the genesis of all this. But the environmental health practitioners will be able to tell us what is really the cause of this. But all the symptoms that were exhibited by the pupils point to that.”
Health authorities suspect the illness was caused by rice and tin fish, though environmental health practitioners will confirm the exact cause.
The Eastern Cape Department of Health described the incident as “unfortunate”.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
