A mother whose newborn boy was swapped with another in a
hospital mix-up 20 years ago wants her biological son back.
Maki*, of Kagiso on the West Rand, learnt with shock five
years ago that a 20-year-old man she had raised as her own son was in fact not
hers.
The 43-year-old mother of five told Sowetan that she came
to know about the mix-up when she took her ex-husband to court to force him to
pay child maintenance for their children.
The father demanded DNA tests on four children before
committing to pay child support. The tests were done on all her children and
both parents in 2014.
The results came back positive for her and her husband and
their three children and showed, however, that they were not biological parents
to the 20 year-old who was a teen then.
"It just didn't make sense to me what the results
meant, I just cried and didn't know what to do or where to go," Maki said.
She believes that her biological son, born in August 1998,
may have been swapped by a nurse at Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital (then Paardekraal
Hospital) in Krugersdorp.
Maki, who works as cleaner, said a second DNA test was
conducted again in 2014, but the results remained the same. A third test was
conducted last year, but also produced the same results.
"I remember the nurse showing me the baby's private
parts, saying to me: 'it's a boy', before taking him away after I gave birth to
him," Maki said.
An hour later, she said, the same nurse returned with the
baby, washed and with a tag bearing Maki's surname.
She said the hospital told her that the woman she shared a
ward with on the day, who could have ended up with her biological son, cannot
be traced because she was a foreigner.
Maki lodged a R40m lawsuit against the Gauteng department
of health for trauma she suffered as a result of the mix-up.
In March 2016, the department offered Maki and the 20-
year-old R2-million out-of-court settlement in a letter addressed to their
lawyers.
"We therefore offer your client, as compensation for
the unfortunate incident that originated from our hospital, an amount of R2m
being full and final settlement," the letter stated.
The letter was signed by the then chief director for legal
services, a Mr T Mlambo
Maki rejected the offer, leading to a protracted legal
battle in the South Gauteng High Court, which is set to be heard only in 2021.
But the mix-up tore apart Maki's family after the 20-year-old man left the
family home after learning of blunder.
"Since the results came, I don't know how to treat
him, I can't even chastise him anymore because I'm afraid he might think I'm
harsh on him due to him not being my biological child," a tearful Maki
told Sowetan at the weekend.
"My heart is sore ... my 'son' has become so
rebellious, the other day I came across a note he wrote about this, and he now
barely visits home," she said.
"I just want to see this matter end. It stresses me a
lot. I can't even sleep anymore."
The mother said she has had to cancel counselling which had
been organised for her by the state because she's worried about losing her job.
"The counselling needed us [and her son] to attend
every month, I stopped in 2017 because I couldn't afford to be absent from work
continuously," she said.
The Gauteng department of health head of legal advocate
Mpelegeng Lebeloane confirmed the case, but refused to comment on the matter,
saying it was still pending and was being ventilated at the South Gauteng High
Court in Johannesburg. Sowetan
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