PRETORIA | The Gauteng Provincial Government said it noted a report released by the Independent Media group in which severe allegations are made against medical practitioners, nursing staff and hospital management 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.
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.
JUST IN: Gauteng health government will be taking legal action against the Independent Media Group. pic.twitter.com/CX4NxNrOFR
— Pursuit Media SA (@PursuitMediaSA) October 27, 2021
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,” Gauteng health said.
The provincial government cannot stand by while serious allegations are made against nurses, doctors, hospital management and health officials.
“These are women and men of integrity who are working selflessly and honestly every day to save lives and at times even risking their lives. Government is duty bound to protect the integrity of all government officials as well as that of public institutions,” it said.
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.
