The Nigerian Mission in South Africa, along with the Nigerian Doctors Forum South Africa (NDF-SA) has condemned attempts to tarnish the image of Nigerian doctors over the fake report of Thamara Sithole delivering decuplets.
Mr Abdul Malik Ahmed, Nigeria Consul General in Johannesburg, South Africa, said the reaction followed a media conference by the Independent Media Group (IMG), on 27 October 2021.
The IMG chairman Dr Igbal Surve, at the press conference in respect of the Gauteng decuplets scandal, pointedly tried to drag Nigeria’s name into the mud.
“At the media conference, the IMG attempted in vain to smear the reputation of Nigerian doctors in South Africa and by extension the Nigerian community in the country”, said Ahmed.
“IMG alleged that a certain unnamed Nigerian doctor handled the alleged matter of the decuplets, insinuating that the disappearance of the babies might be due to the purported involvement of the unnamed doctor.
“It is apparent that the handlers of the alleged mother of the decuplets and her husband could not have handed-over the care of the woman, to a certain faceless or unknown Nigerian doctor, whose identify or place of medical practice they did not know.
“We, therefore, condemn in very strong terms this malicious and unsubstantiated attempt at smearing the name of Nigeria doctors and dragging their hard earned reputation into the mud, to feed into prevailing stereotypes against the Nigerian community in general.”
He explained that the allegation was unfounded because the handlers failed to take into cognizance the identity of the doctor that they engaged with.
Ahmed maintained that it was irresponsible for the IMG to have violated the basic tenets of journalism, by going to press without basic facts, but relying on falsehood, disinformation and defamation.
“It is noteworthy that lot of very well trained and hardworking Nigerian doctors are contributing to the South African healthcare sector and economy in general.
“We take the opportunity to draw the attention of the government, the international community to Nigerian citizens who are South Africa residents.
“As well as, the media that the disclosure by IMG, on the unknown Nigerian doctor, might as well be a red herring targeted at instigating hate, stigma and xenophobic attacks against the Nigeria community.
“IMG is hereby challenged to name the Nigerian doctor involved, in seven days from Oct. 31, 2021 or withdraw with full apologies, its malicious and unsubstantiated allegations and defamation against NDF-SA or face legal action. A crime against one is crime against all,” he said.
The envoy further said that the matter, under reference, concerned Nigeria, urging people to disregard the antics of government and other agencies saddled with the responsibility of unravelling the decuplets’ scandal.
On 8 June 2021, the media in South Africa, the the birth of 10 babies, comprising seven boys and three girls, to 37-year-old Gosiame Thamara Sithole, a South African lady living in Thembisa, a township in South Africa’s Gauteng province.
With her 10 babies, Sithole was touted as having overtaken the current Guinness Book of Records’ holder, Halima Cisse, 25, of Mali who had delivered nine babies, at a clinic in Morocco.
The purported birth by Sithole had since then generated controversies, including the fact that the babies could not be found, the hospital she delivered was unknown.
An inquiry by the South African authorities also declared that the story of the ”Thembisa 10” was untrue.
A twist in the tale, however, came up at the October 27 media conference by the IMG, the organisation that first ran the story.
Iqbal Surve, chairman of the IMG claimed that its internal report showed that the babies do exist.
He claimed that “the babies were lost at the hands of a Nigerian doctor who was assisting the mother at the hospital.”
But to buttress Nigeria’s position, the adjudication ruling issued by Independent Media’s internal ombudsman said the story about the birth of decuplets published by Piet Rampedi in the Pretoria News in June ‘failed to pass the basic principles of journalism’ and amounted to a ‘hoax.’
The report said in its haste to publish journalist Piet Rampedi’s June 2021 story about a Tembisa mother giving birth to decuplets in a world first, “Independent Media’s reputation was put at risk and the trust factor in media has been seriously compromised.”
The Daily Maverick revealed that the finding of the Independent Media’s Group Ombud report was dated 5 July 2021, recommended that: “The Pretoria News, IOL and the other titles in the group that had picked up the syndicated story of the decuplets publish a full apology to all readers with an accompanying explanation of how a hoax story ended up being published.”