Durban -
The praise showered on a Vryheid woman for delivering a baby in a taxi en route from Joburg might have been misplaced with the real heroes being an elderly woman and young woman who sat next to her.
Taxi driver Sibongiseni Mtshali has come forward to dispute the version given by Zonke Ntuli of what happened when Makhosi Ntshangase went into labour.
Ntuli said she delivered the baby when the others were terrified and she cut the umbilical cord with a broken bottle.
She was praised by Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo for her “ubuntu”.
On Wednesday Mtshali said that Ntuli had done nothing during the delivery but take pictures, and she covered her nose, muttering: “It’s smelly in here.”
“It was an old woman and a girl in her twenties who helped the woman. They were sitting behind my seat and Ntuli was sitting on the seat behind them. She is claiming glory that does not belong to her and I could not bear it, hence I came forward to dispute her claim,” said Mtshali.
However, when contacted on Wednesday, Ntuli said she stood by her version.
“I am disappointed. What does helping a person mean in South Africa? I stand firm on what I told people last week. I helped the woman deliver,” she said.
Ntshangase told The Mercury’s sister newspaper Isolezwe that she agreed with the driver, but said Ntuli did give her a blanket to cover the baby.
“Ntuli was sitting behind me. I was helped by an old woman who I told when my waters broke. She did everything, even cutting the umbilical cord with a bottle,” she said.
Attempts to contact the elderly woman were unsuccessful.
KZN health spokesman Agiza Hlongwane said that to the best of his knowledge, Ntuli helped the mother and “is the one who cut the baby’s umbilical cord”.
“The department tried its best to verify all claims made about this incident with the mother. Unfortunately, she refused to co-operate,” he said.
The Mercury