By Kaya 959 News
The Gauteng Provincial Government says it will be taking legal action against Piet Rampedi and Independent Media following the Tembisa 10 saga.
Health officials in the province have confirmed that there are no records of the births of the infamous ‘Tembisa 10’ decuplets.
Further medical reports confirm that Gosiame Sithole neither gave birth, nor was she pregnant recently.
“None of the hospitals in the province, public and private, had any records of such births at their facilities,” the department said.
The story made headlines both locally and around the world, claiming that a Tembisa woman had given birth to 10 babies earlier this month.
However, as the days went by the tale of the Tembisa 10 grew more bizarre.
READ: Tembisa 10: Piet Rampedi apologises for decuplet mess
Government accused of a cover up
Initially, Pretoria News published an article claiming that Gosiame Sithole had given birth to the babies at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
Later, when there were no signs of the babies, Independent Newspapers accused the government of trying to cover up medical negligence.
There were further reports that medical staff were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements.
“These allegations are false, unsubstantiated and only serve to tarnish the good reputation of Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Gauteng Provincial Government,” the department said.
Social workers from the Gauteng Department of Social Development contacted Sithole to see how they could assist her and the babies.
They were concerned with Sithole’s health and arranged for her to be admitted to the Tembisa Hospital for observation.
Various medical tests were conducted and it was recommended that she be kept a further seven days.
“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 department said.
The department further committed to assisting Sithole with medical, psychological and social support.
The Gauteng Provincial Government has expressed its concern with the conduct of the journalist who wrote the article and the media house.
Officials have “instructed the State Attorney to institute legal action against Mr. Rampedi and the Independent Group”.
