Stunt to make money, African woman's claims of giving birth to 10 kids found fake

The claims of a South African woman Gosiame Sithole giving birth to ten babies have been found fake. Medical tests reported that the 37-year-old had not been pregnant recently. The provincial government also stated that no hospitals in Gauteng province have a record of decuplets being born.

The 37-year-old is now being detained under the mental health act for research and will be presented with care. The statement did not clear the speculations behind the imagination of the story.

Independent Online (IOL), the media group which controls the Pretoria News that first published the story and continue to stand by its reporting.

The group went on to claim that Ms Sithole gave the children on 7 June at Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) in the capital, Pretoria, stating staff lacked preparedness. It blamed the hospital and the provincial health authorities for attempting to wrap up medical carelessness.

The birth of an astonishing ten babies was published by Pretoria News on 8 June, quoting Mr Tsotetsi as the reference. He later announced he had obtained text messages from his companion informing him about it, scoring he was not provided at the hospital because of COVID-19 restrictions.

The local mayor then affirmed the births - which is when other media organizations, including the BBC, printed the story - but an administrative spokesperson later stated the legislator only had the family's word and no one had yet seen the babies.

Donations began drowning in for the couple and their reported babies, called the "Thembisa 10", including 1m rands ($70,000; £50,000) from IOL chairman Iqbal Survé.

But the story drew doubt after Pretoria News initially failed to reveal the medical facility where the infants were born, and many of the hospitals in Gauteng denied their involvement. Less than two weeks after the alleged births, IOL made the accusations against SBAH.

The couple appeared to fall out in the result, with Mr Tsotetsi reporting her missing and demanding the public to stop contributions a week later, while Ms Sithole blamed him for needing to benefit financially from the babies, the Pretoria News reported.