“Whereabouts unknown” of woman who gave birth to 10 babies

Tebogo Tsotetsi has yet to see his partner.

Last week it was reported that South African woman Gosiame Sithole had given birth to 10 babies.  At the time doctors and the Guinness Book of World Records said they had yet to confirm the number of babies - and it seems that they are not the only ones. Partner of Sithole and father of her children, Tebogo Tsotetsi, says that not only has he not seen any evidence that the babies have been born, but that he also has no idea where his partner is. Tsotetsi, who was not present for the birth of his children, says he has not been able to visit the babies since they were born due to Covid restrictions. He also says that he is skeptical of Sithole's claims that she gave birth to ten babies. His family recently released a statement as reported by The Sun on his behalf stating;

"He (Tebego) made several attempts to visit his girlfriend, but she has failed to disclose her whereabouts and the condition of her babies. The current and uncertainties and public discourse about the decuplets is now of major concern to the family, especially in the absence of any proof of the decuplets existence other than telephonic and Whatsapp messages from the mother. The matter remains very sensitive and worrying, especially with Gosiame Sithole’s whereabouts unknown."

He says that the only communication he had with her was via WhatsApp and that he was told he could not visit her or the babies due to Covid restrictions. He has since asked the public to stop donating to a GoFundMe set up following the birth of his children. The New York Post reports he said: “I appreciate the financial support that we have been getting from members of the public, but I also would like to appeal to the public to stop making money deposits into our accounts until members of the community have seen the babies." This comes after the hospital where Sithole said she gave birth - the Mediclinic Medforum Hospital in Pretori - said they never treated her.

According to South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper, the clinic said: "We can confirm that none of our facilities were involved in the obstetric care of this patient or her decuplets."