By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Gauteng government will be taking legal action against the Independent Media group over its “serious allegations made against nurses, doctors, hospital management and health officials”.
The media company made the allegations at a press conference in Cape Town on Wednesday.
The press conference was held to address questions about a story written in the Pretoria News about the mysterious Tembisa decuplets.
The Gauteng province has since instructed the State Attorney to institute legal action against the company.
Provincial spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga said a senior counsel had been briefed, and court papers would be served on Independent Media in due course.
“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 own lives,” Mhaga said.
An independent, external investigation found the Pretoria News was “reckless” to publish the story, penned by editor Piet Rampedi, which claimed that a Tembisa woman, Gosiame Sithole, had given birth to 10 babies.
The veracity of the story was widely questioned when several elements couldn’t be proven, including where Sithole had given birth.
The father of the children admitted that he had not seen the babies and had relied on Sithole’s account when he posed for cameras as the parent of newly-born decuplets.
The media company instituted several probes into the story regarding how it was handled. It included investigations internally by the editor, the office of Independent Media’s press ombud, Independent Media’s investigation division, and an independent external investigation, chaired by advocate Michael Donen.
Donen’s report said the publication of the story was “reckless” and found that Rampedi had breached Independent Media’s code of ethics. He recommended disciplinary action be taken against Rampedi.