DADADEL
South Africa Provincial Government, specifically the Gauteng Provincial Government, has refuted Gosiame Sithole’s recent claim of giving birth to 10 babies. The government conveyed this rebuttal through an official statement posted on its Facebook page.
The statement clarified that no Gauteng province hospitals have any record of ‘decuplets’ being born. Furthermore, medical tests revealed that Sithole had not shown any recent signs of pregnancy.
As a result, the 37-year-old is currently under observation and receiving support under the Mental Health Act. Notably, the statement did not provide details regarding the motives behind the fabricated story.
According to Pretoria News, the outlet that broke the story, Sithole claimed she gave birth to the children on June 7 at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in Pretoria, citing staff being unprepared.
The statement accused the hospital and provincial health authorities of concealing medical negligence. Nevertheless, it emphasized that these allegations were both baseless and malicious, intended to smear the stellar reputation of Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Gauteng Provincial Government.
The South Africa Provincial Government also announced its intention to pursue legal action against Piet Rampedi, the editor-in-chief of Pretoria News.
The statement read:
“Following reports published by the Independent Media group about a Gauteng woman having given birth to decuplets on Monday, 7 June 2021, the Gauteng Provincial government conducted a thorough check with all hospitals in the province to establish the veracity or otherwise of reports. None of the hospitals in the province, public and private, had any records of such births at their facilities.
On June 17, 2021, Pretoria News published a report based on a statement made by the Independent Media alleging that Gosaime Sithole gave birth to decuplets at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital and that the government was trying to cover up medical negligence.
These allegations are false, and unsubstantiated, and only serve to tarnish the good reputation of Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Gauteng Provincial Government. Social workers attached to the Gauteng Department of Social Department made contact with Ms Sithole to establish her whereabouts to determine how the department could provide any assistance and care for her and her children. The social workers became concerned for Ms. Sithole’s state of health and arranged for her admission at Tembisa Hospital for observation.
Ms Sithole was admitted to Tembisa Hospital on 18 June 2021 and various medical tests were conducted on her to determine her state of health. Initially, she was meant to be kept at the hospital for 72 hours which lapsed on Tuesday 22 June 2021. Upon completing their preliminary examination on Monday 21 June, her doctors recommended that she be kept at the hospital for a further 7 days for further observation, by the Mental Healthcare Act.
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 Gauteng Provincial Government will continue to give medical, psychological, and social support to Ms. Sithole and provide any counseling she might require. The Gauteng Provincial Government is deeply concerned by the conduct of the Independent Media, particularly the Editor of the Pretoria News, Mr Piet Ramedi. The Provincial government has instructed the State Attorney to institute legal action against Mr Rampedi and the Independent Group.”
Tebogo Tsotetsi, Sithole’s boyfriend, expressed his skepticism regarding her alleged childbirth of the babies.
