Times Of Swaziland: I faked baby's death - stepmUm

I faked baby's death - stepmUm
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TIMOTHY SIMELANE AND SIZWE MAZ on 04/12/2010 00:00:00


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.
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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