Department is probing newborn’s disappearance
THE Gauteng Department of Health is investigating the mystery surrounding a baby boy who allegedly went missing soon after his birth at Refentse Public Clinic in Stinkwater, north of Pretoria.
His mother, Gloria Mhlongo, from New Eersterust near Soshanguve, told The Star’s sister paper, Pretoria News, she wasn’t informed about her child’s health when he was born, nor was she allowed to see him.
“When I tried to get up to go to him, the nurse told me to lie down. I saw him lying there and he was breathing. The nurse then weighed him and confirmed his gender. That was when I saw her put him in a plastic bag and she walked away with it.”
The 26-year-old mother-oftwo said: “I was confused and so I called my mom. I was in the bathroom when my mom arrived, and when I went back, she was with the nurse who helped me deliver.
“She wasn’t informed about my son’s health or whereabouts either. The nurses just said I should get dressed.”
After leaving the clinic, the women went to the police station to report the baby as missing. The SAPS told them to get information about the baby from the clinic before they would help the distraught women report a crime.
Mhlongo suspected that the clinic staff may have somehow disposed of the baby.
Mhlongo has demanded that the Health Department investigate the incident.
According to Mhlongo, the premature baby boy was carried away shortly after his birth. She claims she never saw him again. She said no explanation was given about this, and that she suspected the infant could still be alive.
In the search for answers, Mhlongo, accompanied by DA officials and police, stormed into the clinic to demand answers from management.
But pandemonium broke out when clinic security guards refused to allow the contingent into the clinic.
Speaking outside the clinic, Mhlongo said her ordeal began when she arrived at the clinic two weeks ago, accompanied by her brother. Despite being in excruciating pain, she wasn’t given any medical attention until a cleaner called a nurse, who “eventually” put her on a drip and checked her blood pressure. “I was confused and in pain. I waited an hour in the passage.
“A cleaner went to call the nurses. One of them came to me, and she asked what was wrong. I told her that I was in pain. She left again.
“Another nurse came to check my blood pressure and told me to sit on the bed while they called an ambulance. My waters broke at around 1pm, and that’s when she helped me deliver the baby. She kept saying that my baby might not make it.”
DA regional leader Abel Tau, who was at Mhlongo’s side later at the clinic, said the party would write to Gauteng Health MEC Dr Gwen Ramokgopa to call for an urgent investigation into the alleged disappearance of the baby.
“We were made to believe that the clinic would have disposed of the baby because it was stillborn. However, he said, this did not make sense because in terms of national legislation, the clinic was compelled to get the mother’s informed and written consent before they could medically dispose of a dead child’s body.
“What’s important is that we really need to condemn this behaviour; from what happened at the police station when we went to report the baby missing, and here at the clinic where the gates were locked to us. The way this family has been treated is totally unacceptable.”
Provincial Health Department spokesperson Lesemang Matuka rejected the claim that the baby might have been snatched. He said such insinuations were unfounded.
“The matter is being investigated to verify what happened, and findings and recommendations thereof will provide a direction forward to further management of similar incidences in future,” he said.