South African woman's claim that she gave birth to ten babies is fake: Report

Several reports published earlier this month which claimed that a South African woman was to enter the Guinness World Records for giving birth to ten babies in a single delivery, has turned out to be false after an inquiry by the Gauteng provincial government.

According to the provincial government, no hospitals in Gauteng province have a record of decuplets being born.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Gauteng provincial government said that it had conducted a thorough check with all hospitals in the province to establish the veracity or otherwise of reports.

However, none of the hospitals in the province, public and private, had any records of such birth at their facilities.

According to local media, Gosiame Sithole, 37, claimed that she gave birth to 10 babies on June 7 at a local hospital in Gauteng province, reports Xinhua news agency.

"It has now been established by medical practitioners that Sithole did not give birth to any babies in recent times.

"It is also been established that she was not pregnant in recent times," Gauteng Provincial government spokesperson Thabo Masebe was quoted as saying in the statement.

Meanwhile, the statement did not elaborate on the reasons behind the fabrication of the story.

According to a BBC report, Independent Online (IOL), the media group which owns the Pretoria News that first reported the story, had stood by its reporting.

It went on to allege that Ms Sithole delivered the children on 7 June at Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in the capital, Pretoria, saying staff were ill-prepared.

It had even accused the hospital and the provincial health authorities of trying to cover up medical negligence.

However, the Provincial Government refuted these allegations and claimed that they were unsubstantiated and was done to tarnish the good reputation of Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Gauteng Provincial Government.

Legal action would be taken against the editor-in-chief of Pretoria News, Piet Rampedi, and IOL, it said.

Whereas, the spokesperson said that the government will continue providing medical, psychological and social support to the woman.