Johannesburg – The Gauteng Government is seething and said it will be taking legal action against the Independent Media group.
This comes after the group released a report making allegations against medical practitioners, nursing staff and hospital management, in relation to the ‘Tembisa 10’ saga that captivated the country earlier this year.
Executive Chairman of Independent Media, Iqbal Survé, held a briefing earlier on Wednesday where he made claims that the alleged 10 children born to mother Gosiame Thamara Sithole had been trafficked.
The government said that the claims made by Survé are baseless and were made “without any shred of evidence to substantiate such allegations.”
In June this year, the Independent Media group published a story about a Gauteng woman having given birth to decuplets on 7 June 2021.
“At the time, the Gauteng Provincial Government conducted a thorough check with all hospitals in the province to establish the veracity or otherwise of the reports and found that none of the hospitals in the province, public and private, had any records of such births at their facilities,” Gauteng Government said in a statement.
“Despite this, the Pretoria News insisted that the story of the decuplets was true and further stated that the babies were delivered at Steve Biko Academic Hospital. The newspaper published serious allegations that the government and the hospital management were trying to cover up medical negligence,” the government further said in a statement.
The woman claiming to have given birth to decuplets was admitted to Tembisa hospital on 18 June 2021, and various medical tests were conducted on her to determine her state of health.
“The doctors established that the woman did not give birth to any babies nor was she pregnant in recent times. The provincial government cannot stand by while serious allegations are made against nurses, doctors, hospital management and health officials,” the Gauteng Government further stated.
“These are women and men of integrity who are working selflessly and honestly every day to save lives and at times even risking their own lives. Government is dutybound to protect the integrity of all government officials as well as that of public institutions.”
Gauteng’s government said that it 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,” the provincial government further stated.
The media briefing has caused a stir once again in South Africa. Take a look at what some South Africans had to say about the matter on Twitter below:
😳 Shocking Revelations 😳‼️‼️‼️
Black women are suffering in this country. 💔😭#Tembisa10 #TruthAboutTembisa10 pic.twitter.com/SghDWt8FpQ
— YountuSnr 🎶 (@ThabangYountu) October 27, 2021
The baby-snatching syndicate has activated its PR machinery to deflect now. It is sad to see big names in the media being callous, heartless, and lacking empathy and sympathy for the victim, Gosiame Sithole.
Dr Mpho Pooe is under attack for serving a poor black woman. #Tembisa10— 🇿🇦Queen of Sheba (@QwinOfSheba) October 27, 2021
They have started to try and discredit Dr. Mpho Pooe.
Just know, it's true. #Tembisa10
— Ankole Hater. (@ZiieRadebe) October 27, 2021
https://twitter.com/LeratoLoveMsg/status/1453388785673199621?s=20
#Tembisa10 @RediTlhabi i wonder how much she received for cover up pic.twitter.com/vObttjlUza
— TeamBlackCultureFoundation (@TeamBcultureF) October 27, 2021
Protect Piet Rampedi, Dr Mpho Pooe & Iqbal Surve at all costs. Human trafficking networks are deep and entrenched in our governments that anybody who exposes them ends up dead. Human traffickers, aided by journalists, know that they are exposed and they will hit back.#Tembisa10
— Abednego (@abednego82) October 27, 2021
To read more political news and views, click here.
Also read: Editorial: Thembisa 10 saga has made fools of us all
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