[imagesource: Thobile Mathonsi / African News Agency]

By now, most of South Africa will be familiar with the story of 37-year-old Gosiame Thamara Sithole.

According to reports, Sithole gave birth to 10 children – seven boys and three girls – on Monday night at an undisclosed hospital in Pretoria.

We’ve treated the story with a degree of scepticism, given that the only original report on the matter comes via IOL’s Piet Rampedi, who is notorious for his role in the fake SARS ‘rogue unit’ stories from years back.

In addition, the director-general of government communications, Phumla Williams, stated yesterday that they were unable to verify details:

We have spent a better part of today tracing the story of @IOL of a woman having given birth to 10 babies! @IOL can you please help the public where this birth happened!

— phumla williams (@mirriamp) June 8, 2021

It would be a pretty remarkable con to try and pull, with a huge amount of national and international media attention already garnered, and it’s perhaps more likely that Rampedi and IOL want to ensure they continue to get the exclusive scoop.

UPDATE: Gauteng Social Development spokesperson Feziwe Ndwayana has confirmed the births of the decuplets to Jacaranda FM News:

The department confirmed the births of the decuplets on Wednesday afternoon, but later said it would only be able to give details on the exact number of babies after it visited the mother on Thursday.

“As the department we confirm that the mother has been a client of ours since 2019, however due to an agreement with the family, the mother and her babies are in a place of safety to give her time to bond with the children and for her body to heal.”

“The department is currently assessing her needs and when she and her family are ready the MEC Morakane Mosupyoe will meet the family to congratulate the mother and handover any necessity that may assist her with her babies.

“The department social worker will see the mother tomorrow.”

Below is this morning’s story, as it was written…

Which brings us to this morning, and the follow-up story on IOL:

[Stihole] has appealed for help to raise the decuplets, saying she can’t afford the financial and emotional demands…

Sithole, who already has twins, said she had exhausted her savings after taking unpaid leave two months into her pregnancy earlier this year…

She ruled out going back to work, saying her salary would not even cover the costs of the helpers she would have to employ to take care of her bundles of joy.

Sithole is said to be appealing for help with clothes, baby formula, diapers, and accommodation for the decuplets, with her husband, Tebogo Tsotetsi, unemployed.

Makgoshi Maponyane, the founder of NLP and life coaching company Facade Estilo, is acting as family spokesperson and handling media enquiries.

This grainy pamphlet thing has also been released:

The report mentions multiple times that Sithole has now broken the Guinness World Record for the most children born at the same birth, but that’s not exactly how it works.

You need confirmation from the organisation, which released this statement yesterday, via Jessica Dawes, a Senior Publicist for Guinness World Records:

“Guinness World Records is aware of the news that Sithole has given birth to decuplets.

“We send our congratulations and best wishes to the family. At the current time, we are yet to verify if this is a record as the wellbeing of both the mother and babies are of top priority.

“Our records team, alongside a specialist consultant, are looking into this and will provide any information as soon as possible,” said Dawes.

The current Guinness World Record for the most children to survive a single birth is held by American Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to eight babies in 2009.

In May, Malian Halima Cissé gave birth to nine babies, but they remain in incubators at the Ain Borja clinic in Casablanca, Morocco.

I don’t doubt that Sithole would require a great deal of assistance, financial and otherwise, to care for 10 children.

At the same time, I hope those involved in this story have her, and her children’s, best interests at heart.

[source:iol]