Johannesburg – The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday that the Gauteng Health Department had still not concluded an investigation into the baby who went missing from a clinic in Stinkwater, near Hammanskraal, earlier this year.
In a statement, Gauteng DA spokesperson on health, Jack Bloom, said the baby, born to Khombo Mhlongo, went missing on May 29 at the Reefentse Clinic.
“This is according to Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature,” Bloom said.
Bloom said Ramokgopa said that “due to the unavailability of the implicated midwife due to illness and extended sick leave, negligence or the absence thereof could not be established.”
“This is a poor excuse for a serious case where a baby could have been kidnapped or killed for its body parts.
“Shortly after Mhlongo’s son was born, the sister in charge at the clinic took him away, saying she was going to bath him. Mhlongo was then told that he had died, but was later informed by the same sister that the baby had disappeared from the clinic and was still missing,” Bloom said.
“Tshwane DA Councillor Abel Tau has taken up this case with the police on behalf of the Mhlongo family and has led a march of hundreds of community members to the clinic to demand answers.”
Bloom said Mhlongo’s baby was not the first baby snatched in Tshwane as a baby boy disappeared some years ago from the George Mukhari Hospital.
“It is shameful that the department still cannot provide answers for a grieving mother.
The DA will continue to pressure the department and the police to find out what really happened in this matter and ensure that culprits are held accountable, Bloom added.