'Generations: The Legacy' actress Khabonina Qubeka as Oby Phakade

‘Generations: The Legacy’ actress Khabonina Qubeka as Oby Phakade. Image via Instagram @khabonina_q

Yes, actress Khabonina Qubeka sued a hospital for her placenta

The ‘Generations: The Legacy’ actress who plays the role of the wicked Oby, and her kickboxer husband sued a a hospital for millions after her placenta was discarded.

'Generations: The Legacy' actress Khabonina Qubeka as Oby Phakade

‘Generations: The Legacy’ actress Khabonina Qubeka as Oby Phakade. Image via Instagram @khabonina_q

Seasoned actress Khabonina Qubeka, who plays the role of Nigerian diplomat and witch Oby Phakade on Generations: The Legacy, made headlines in 2020 when she sued a private hospital for millions of rands after they disposed of her placenta without her permission. 

She gave birth to her and world champion kickboxing husband Vuyisile “Master Vusi” Colossa’s daughter, Lwandle, in October 2018.

The actress signed a legal agreement with the Life Bedford Gardens Hospital which indicated that she’ll take her placenta home after birth.

The document stated that the actress refused the disposal by incineration [burning] or by other lawful means of human tissue.

Placenta for cultural and business reasons

According to a 2020 Sowetan article, Qubeka and her husband Colossa wanted to keep the placenta for cultural and business reasons.

I felt the need to preserve my placenta because this was my first pregnancy and I have no idea if I will ever be pregnant again.

So for me, this was a chance to explore the full avenues of my pregnancy. A placenta is the child’s blanket and culturally it benefits the child and the entire family.

I was told [by the hospital management] that we’ll freeze it for you and when you are ready you can come to get it…

Tsonga rituals

According to TimesLIVE, Colossa said the placenta was significant for him and his family to be used in Tsonga rituals.

“You can cleanse the child traditionally if something happens to them. Some other cultures they plant it and then plant a tree to represent the life of the child,” he was quoted as saying.

Radio and TV production

At the time, the couple was in the early stages of developing a radio and TV production about health and wellness during and after pregnancy. The placenta was meant to be a big feature in the production.

“In terms of producing the kind of content that we were going for, we were looking at a production cost of between R10 million and R20 million, that’s excluding the sponsors,” Colossa explained.

Also read: ‘Generations: The Legacy’: Viewers appalled by new witchcraft storyline

THE MILLION-RAND PLACENTA

The hospital’s lawyer Ronald Bottin contradicted the actress’s claims of negligence and stated in an email:

In line with the internal processes and policies of Life Healthcare, the allegations surrounding the placenta of Ms Qubeka, after giving birth during October 2018, was investigated at various levels including hospital, operational and management level.

She was required to complete and sign an affidavit for the safe disposal of human tissue by a patient, in order to collect the placenta after her discharge.

Ms Qubeka did not complete the affidavit nor queried upon discharge the whereabouts of the placenta.

As a result, the hospital is obligated to dispose of the placenta in an ethical manner as required in terms of legislation.

There have been no mentions of the lawsuit or its outcome since.

POPULARITY OF KEEPING PLACENTAS

Eat the placenta

According to parents.com eating a placenta became popular because of celebrities such as the Kardashians, Hilary Duff, and January Jones who ate or took placenta pills after giving birth. 

The practice is called placentophagy where women either eat it or encapsulate it into a pill form and add it to smoothies.

Donate the placenta

Some women donate their placentas through an accredited tissue bank as it is well-known that the nutrient-dense tissue of a placenta helps healing of wounds and burns, ocular procedures, spinal surgeries, and other medical needs.

Make jewellery

Some women are so obsessed with their placentas that they’ve created beaded bracelets, earrings off them as a constant reminder of their pregnancy.

Plant it

Most cultures believe in planting a placenta alongside a tree in their yard after birth as it symbolises a baby’s link to the earth.

HER WITCHY CHARACTER: OBY PHAKADE

The actress’s current character, Oby Phakade, has trended every night for her witchy stunts, such as appeasing the ancestors by eating human livers and drinking her blood to gain power.

She also controls others by making them drink her special brewed tea and hypnotises them.

She and her on-screen husband Kumkani Phakade (Vuyo Dabula) are relentlessly pursuing Ayanda who is partially responsible for Oby’s brother’s death and for getting Phakade arrested. 

Tshidi (Letoya Makhene), Ayanda (Samela Tyelbooi) and Lucy (Manaka Ranaka) are currently on her trail and have requested a sangoma to assist them get rid of the her.  

Also read: ‘Generations: The Legacy’: Will Tshidi rescue Kumkani from Oby?