A claim that a South African woman Gosiame Sithole gave birth to 10 babies earlier this month is not true, an official inquiry has found.
The mother of South Africa’s so-called “Thembisa 10″ babies, Gosiame Sithole, has not given birth and was not pregnant “in recent times” the inquiry established.
No hospitals in Gauteng province have a record of decuplets being born, the provincial government says.
Medical tests show that Ms Sithole had not even been pregnant recently, it said.
The 37-year-old is now being held under the mental health act for observation and will be provided with support.
This is according to the Gauteng government in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon [June 23, 2021].
The findings, it said, came after Sithole was taken in for observation at Tembisa Hospital.
The statement did not elaborate on the reasons behind the fabrication of the story.
Spokesperson Thabo Masebe said an investigation was done after an initial report in the Pretoria News, which claimed that the babies had been born in a Pretoria hospital.
Independent Media, which publishes the Pretoria News, had stood by its story, and accused government officials of a “cover up” when they questioned the veracity of the report. Pretoria News editor Piet Rampedi, who wrote the story, has since apologised to colleagues for it.
As a result of the findings regarding her not being pregnant nor giving birth, the provincial government said it had “instructed the state attorney to institute legal action against Mr Rampedi and the Independent Group”.
Timeslive.co.za reports Masebe said on Wednesday that social development department social workers had reached out to Sithole as they were concerned about her state of health. They had arranged for her to be admitted at the Tembisa Hospital for observation on June 18.
Her stay has since been extended for the rest of the week, said Masebe, after a preliminary investigation.
“It has now been established by medical practitioners that Ms Sithole did not give birth to any babies in recent times. It has also been established that she was not pregnant in recent times.”
The government would continue to provide support for Sithole.
Timeslive.co.za reports Masebe said on Wednesday that social development department social workers had reached out to Sithole as they were concerned about her state of health. They had arranged for her to be admitted at the Tembisa Hospital for observation on June 18.
Her stay has since been extended for the rest of the week, said Masebe, after a preliminary investigation.
“It has now been established by medical practitioners that Ms Sithole did not give birth to any babies in recent times. It has also been established that she was not pregnant in recent times.”
The government would continue to provide support for Sithole.
Discussion about this post