Gauteng government has stated that it has instructed the state attorney to institute legal action against the Independent Media Group.
This comes after the group’s investigative report claimed that the decuplets, which were well known as the “Tembisa 10”, were indeed born but were trafficked out of the country.
In June this year, the Independent Media group published a story about a Gauteng woman having given birth to decuplets on the 7th of June 2021. At the time, the Gauteng provincial government conducted a thorough check with all hospitals in the province to create a veracity of a reports and found that none of the hospitals in the province, public and private, had any records of such births at their facilities.
Meanwhile, Netcare has reiterated that no patient with a multiple pregnancy of eight or more foetuses had ever been admitted at any of its hospitals, including Netcare Sunninghill Hospital. In their statement, Netcare said it has verified with all the independent gynaecologists and obstetricians practicing at the facility that none of their practices have consulted a patient or done a scan showing a multiple pregnancy of eight or more foetuses.
However, Advocate Michael Donen, the chairperson of the independent inquiry into the story, revealed in his report several disturbing contradictions and concerns, which suggested that human trafficking was involved in the Sithole saga.
In addition, Advocate Donen said alarm bells were ringing, with Ms Sithole having been denied access to her attorney, as well as the absence of an independent medical examination by an appropriately qualified independent medical practitioner, nor one by an independent psychiatrist.
