Mom thrilled to hold separated twins after surgery
[They would not be responding to the Dispatch inquiries as the information was in] contravention of the BCM employer/employee relations policy. In all fairness, we cannot be running an institution via a newspaper
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya
An Eastern Cape mother’s greatest joy since giving birth to conjoined twin girls is being able to carry one in each arm.
Born joined at the head, the girls were rushed to the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, where they were successfully separated.
Given that conjoining of twins at the head is so rare — it only happens in one in 2.5million live births worldwide — it is not surprising the birth and recovery of Minentle and Sukoluhle Tyhalisi is being hailed as a miracle.
The sisters, from Ngcingwana village in Dutywa, were born on January 30 via an emergency Csection at Butterworth Hospital.
At four days old, the twins and their mother, Ntombikayise, were transferred to the children’s hospital for separation surgery.
Now back home, the girls are thriving under their mother’s care.
Ntombikayise, 31, said the birth of her girls, weighing 2kg and 2.9kg respectively, had come as a shock because she was only expecting to give birth to one child.
“I was expecting one baby and [was] told that the baby was just facing the wrong way for the birth,” she said.
When Minentle and Sukoluhle came into the world conjoined, it frightened her.
“I was not even aware that babies could be joined at the head.
“It was the first time I heard about it and saw it when I gave birth.
“I am happy now that they have been separated because when they were still joined it wasn’t easy to hold them and it was difficult for me to bathe them.
“Now that they are separated, things are going to be much easier and my sister is going to help me,” she said.
A multidisciplinary team was put together for the surgery on February 24.
Each twin was assigned an anaesthetist, neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon and nurses.
Prof Tony Figaji, head of paediatric neurosurgery at Red Cross, said the twins were joined at the head in what was medically referred to as craniopagus twinning.
“It’s the rarest form of conjoined twinning,” Figaji said.
“We were fortunate in this case that the connection did not involve any shared brain tissue and didn’t involve major [blood] vessels going from one twin to the other,” Figaji said.
Prof Saleigh Adams, head of plastic surgery at the hospital, said the teams had been prepared for a marathon surgery but because there were no complications, doctors were able to complete the procedure in a shorter time frame.
“We were prepared for a sixhour surgery. On this occasion the surgery lasted all of 1½ hours. This is a huge plus for the recovery of the twins,” Adams said.
The twins returned home within days with their mother.
They are due back at the hospital for a check-up soon.
“[One] is finicky and [doesn’t] sleep at night, she just cries.
“[The other] is much better and I can seen she is not going to give me any trouble at all,” their elated mother joked this week.
“The nurses have been a big help to me. And when we were sitting and talking in the waiting room, people assured me that this hospital will help me a lot and it will be better for me to come here from the Eastern Cape because I’ll leave here holding one baby on each side, and that really gave me courage not to [give up].
“I am really grateful to the doctors for what they did for me and my children.”
BCM Samwu shop steward Simbongile Gulwa said the charges against Mxo were “a tactic to de-focus her from the interviews today”.
Gulwa said the charges levelled against Mxo did not warrant suspension and that they would defend her to ensure the system carried on running until the recruitment process had been concluded.
“As Samwu we did not form part of the shortlisting for the position. We will raise issues related to Fraser’s qualification for position.”
Imatu BCM shop steward Siya Yamba said it would be disappointing and shocking to allow Fraser to continue at the helm of SCM.
Yamba said their members had “not had peace” at the unit since Fraser’s arrival two years ago.
“We are very concerned about how she treats her subordinates.”
When contacted for comment on Tuesday, Fraser said: “Why don’t you ask for their [unions’] motive behind these allegations? Am I in the business of making people happy? I view this [call for comment] as an infringement of my space.
“This is harassment. Why are you concerned about the appointment of the general manager? I’m not employed by the unions here and people should use the right platform to raise their issues.”
She then directed the Dispatch to the municipal spokesperson for comment.
Mxo could not be reached for comment.
Last year, a number of employees at the SCM unit filed a collective grievance about alleged ill-treatment by Fraser to CFO Xoseka which Dispatch has seen.
The grievance committee sat and was chaired by Appana Bob Naidoo.
The grievances report states that two senior employees in
SCM, Sisanda Camagu and Tamara Nyathi, were not happy with Fraser’s management style.
The report states that Camagu claimed unfair treatment or victimisation by the defendant (Fraser). This happened after Camagu was issued with a written warning for insubordination or dereliction of duties.
Naidoo found that Nyathi’s grievance was more about operational disagreements in relation to working after hours despite Fraser’s knowledge that Nyathi had children that she needed to take care of after hours.
Naidoo cleared Fraser saying: “I find no misconduct committed by the defendant, Ms Mercy Fraser, in all allegations as stated on the grievance.”
However, the chairperson called for “strategic intervention to improve working relations” between Fraser and staff at SCM.