About 40 people, including several children, collapsed at a taxi rank in Rustenburg, North West, on Saturday in a suspected poisoning incident , paramedics said.
Paramedics arrived at the taxi rank at 11am and found many people lying on the ground, Netcare 911 spokesman Jeff Wicks said.
Most of them showed symptoms of organophosphate poisoning including vomiting, profuse sweating, nausea and diarrhoea.
Organophosphate is a chemical used to kill insects and animals that damage crops.
They told medics they had fallen ill after eating food at a nearby restaurant, Wicks said.
Further details about the poisoning were not immediately available.
Those affected were taken to various hospitals in an ambulance and minibus taxis. -Sapa