In a shocking exposé regarding the missing decuplets, Independent Media yesterday revealed that their mother Goisame Sithole, was indeed pregnant and that her 10 babies are the victims of a human trafficking syndicate, involving Gauteng health officials.
These were among the sensational facts that emerged at a press conference called by Independent Media at Newspaper House into the disappearance of the so-called Tembisa 10 just hours after they were born earlier this year.
Goisame’s pregnancy, which was widely questioned after her babies disappeared without a trace, was confirmed by medical practitioner Dr Mpho Pooe.
“She has had 16 kids, this is a woman who has been blessed with multiple pregnancies,” Pooe said.
“She has a history of twins, triplets, a single baby and ultimately the decuplets.
“She deserves justice, she deserves to know where her babies are, she deserves to be given her babies even if she did receive that money (from the human traffickers).
“But she has the right to be their mother, those children have the right to a family.”
Independent Media chairman Dr Iqbal Survé, who was also on the panel, revealed that there was a cover-up of biblical proportions on the mom’s pregnancy and the birth of her ten babies on 7 June.
“The story of the decuplets’ mother is a sad one, and it is not an outcome we could have predicted when Piet Rampedi, the editor of Pretoria News on Tuesday, 8 June, broke the story of the mother, Gosiame Sithole, having given birth to 10 babies,” he said.
“This was a feel good story, this was not an investigative story.
“The government has to answer one question to us: where are the babies?”
He says days after the Gauteng Department had confirmed the birth, they retracted and claimed that there were no babies.
It was also revealed that two of the babies died soon after birth, while the remaining eight are missing.
The traffickers are known to ship babies out of South Africa to West Africa, Europe and the USA.
Some of the babies are adopted while others are used for muti, cosmetic surgeries and stem cells.
An investigation by an independent panel was launched and some of the outcomes of the investigations have revealed and confirmed:
- Ms Sithole was pregnant and had a recent Caesarean section.
- Sithole was admitted to Steve Biko Academic Hospital, as well as taken to a private hospital (Lenmed Zamokuhle Private Hospital) and subsequently to Tembisa Hospital.
- Independent Media also confirmed that the backwards and forwards of the newborn infants between these hospitals as well as Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital did take place.
- Doctors and nurses in the private and public sectors are unequivocally complicit in the delivery and subsequent cover-up of the birth of the babies.
- There has been gross medical negligence in that not sufficient doctors were present for these multiple births, with only four doctors in attendance.
- No incubators were supplied, and furthermore that there was a misdiagnosis during Sithole’s surgery.
- All physical and electronic records of this pregnancy and previous medical history of Sithole were removed.
Hours after the conference, Gauteng Health released a statement, saying they will be taking legal action against Independent Media over its findings.
The department stated: “The provincial government cannot stand by while serious allegations are made against nurses, doctors, hospital management and health officials…
“The provincial government has instructed the State Attorney to institute legal action against the Independent Media group.
“A senior counsel has been briefed and court papers will be served on the Independent Media in due course.”