Pupils and teachers suffered from stomach pain after eating food at a function attended by President Thabo Mbeki.

Food for Mbeki and other dignitaries was apparently not prepared using the same utensils or ingredients as that for others attending the launch of the Nepad e-schools project at Maripe High School in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, last week.

A source said hundreds of pupils and a number of teachers were treated for diarrhoea at the school and the local hospital. - Riot Hlatshwayo