No hospitals in the region had any record of the babies being born.
The woman who claimed to birth 10 babies is being held at a psychiatric hospital, according to reports.
South African woman Gosiame Sithole told the world that she had given birth to decuplets earlier this year. Her partner, Teboho Tsotetsi, later said that he believed the pregnancy had been a hoax after Sithole was reported missing.
An inquiry later determined that the Sithole had not been pregnant at the time, while no local hospitals had any records of the births.
“These allegations are false, unsubstantiated and only serve to tarnish the good reputation of Steve Biko Academic Hospital and the Gauteng Provincial Government,” said a statement.
The Guardian Nigeria has since reported that Sithole was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a psyche evaluation. Her attorney, Refiloe Mokoena, said that she is “now being held against her will.”
“She declined that she should be taken to the Tembisa Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation because she felt strongly that she is of sound mind,” he said.
“She then instructed me to accompany her to the Tembisa Hospital. And when we arrived at the hospital, they took her straight to ward 14, the psychiatric ward. They told me that now she was in their custody, they would not be allowing the lawyers and the team of psychologists that she had requested to be present.”
Word of the 10 babies’ births became global news after local publication Pretoria News reported it to be true. The births were then “confirmed” by the local mayor despite no proof that the children existed.
Sithole had originally claimed that she thought she was pregnant with six babies and that four had been missed on scans. She said that the babies had been conceived naturally.
The family of partner Tsotetsi have since apologised for any “embarrassment” caused by the story.
