Tembisa 10 Piet Rampedi

The Tembisa 10’s Gosiame Sithole. Image: IOL/Twitter

JUST IN: Decuplets mom was never pregnant, Gauteng government confirms

The Gauteng provincial government has confirmed that the woman who reportedly gave birth to decuplets was never pregnant.

Tembisa 10 Piet Rampedi

The Tembisa 10’s Gosiame Sithole. Image: IOL/Twitter

In a shocking turn of events, the Gauteng Provincial Government has confirmed that after a thorough examination, Gosiame Sithole, who according to an exclusive by Pretoria News gave birth to decuplets was never pregnant to begin with.

Earlier in June, Pretoria News reported that a Gauteng woman gave birth to ten babies at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital. The publication further accused the Gauteng Department of Health and the provincial government of trying to cover up medical negligence.

GAUTENG PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT REPORT ON TEMBISA 10

In a statement released on Wednesday, 23 June, the provincial government confirmed that Sithole was admitted to to Tembisa Hospital on 18 June 2021 and various medical tests were done to determine her state of health.

“Initially, she was meant to be kept at the hospital for 72 hours, upon completing their preliminary examination on Monday, 21 June 2021, her doctors recommended that she be kept at the hospital for a further 7 days for observation, in accordance with 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 never pregnant in recent times.”

Gauteng Provincial Government

PIET RAMPEDI APOLOGISES FOR DECUPLETS REPORTING

In a letter Independent Media’s editor-in-chief Aneez Salie, Piet Rampedi said that his story, which has had more twists than a pretzel factory, put his colleagues in an “awkward position”. He maintained however that the babies do in fact exist, and said that while he hadn’t felt the need to verify Sithole’s pregnancy or treat the story as an investigation, the couple had “no reason to lie to him”. The Department of health in Gauteng and MediClinic have denied that there are any records of the births having taken place.

“To be blunt, the story provided detractors with an opportunity to cast aspersions on the professional integrity of not only myself, but also my colleagues in the group. For that, I am extremely sorry. It was unfortunate. And I would like to apologise to you, my colleagues and the group,” he said.

“Even though I stand by the fact that Sithole was pregnant, some aspects of the story could have been dealt with differently. Could I have handled the story much better? Definitely! Especially the verification process. Quite honestly, I never treated the decuplets story as an investigation at all. I used no investigative tool or checklist.”

The Provincial Government said it will take legal action against Piet Rampedi and Independent Group.