I faked baby's death - stepmUm

KHOLWANE – The stepmother of the two-year-old baby who was allegedly tortured and neglected until she died has confessed to have faked the baby’s death.

Temtsimba Dlamini said she wanted the biological mother of the baby, Nothando Shabangu, to give her the baby’s hospital card so she would be able to take her to the clinic.

Breaking her silence for the first time after several allegations had been made against her, Temtsi-mba said the baby was already sick when she was taken to her home by Shabangu in September last year.

"After several weeks, she grew weak from the illness and was losing weight. Whenever she ate, she vomited the food and had bouts of diarrhea. I fed her daily and even tried all that I could to give her softer food despite that I am unemployed. When the sickness got worst, I called her father who was searching for job opportunities in Manzini to come and help me.

"When he arrived, he could not help me with anything because he was also broke. I then suggested that we get the baby’s hospital card from her biological mother in Nhlangano. I personally called the mother of the baby’s biological mother and asked her to please give us the baby’s hospital card because it would be fruitless for us to take the baby to a clinic without the card.

"Instead of giving us the card, the mother was infuriated by my call such that she said I should never call her again because her phone number was not a public number but private."

"We then saw Nothando’s brother in Manzini and asked him to send the card with a bus that travels between Nhlangano and Manzini because the baby was sick. Her brother promised to do this but when the bus arrived on the day that he had promised to send the card, the conductor said no card had been given to him."

Dlamini said she had eventually devised a strategy by which to force the baby’s biological mother or some family members to come and visit the baby.

"I told my husband that the best thing was for him to call the Shabangu family and tell them that the baby had died. I did this because I was confused. I didn’t know what to do with the baby because her illness was worsening everyday."

She said her husband, Mandla Dlamini supported the idea and did as planned.

When the Shabangu family arrived, she said they asked to see the corpse and she told them the baby was alive, but sick.

"One of my husband’s brothers-in-law slapped him across the face after he had seen the baby. The whole family seemed angry that we had reported the baby dead yet she was alive. We tried to explain our reasons but they would hear none of it until they left.

The baby, Gcinile Dlamini eventually died while receiving treatment at the Hlatikhulu Government Hospital on Thursday. This was after our sister paper The Times exposed her story.

Comments

I wonder why so many people are blaming the stepmother for sins commited by the child's biological mother,that woman has an evil heart,my family had the same experience in 1983 when my sister in law left a sickly 6 months old bäby with us who later died.
Dec 4, 2010, 10:36 AM, Lisa

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