Almost 50 Pregnant Women Forcefully Sterilised in South Africa

Almost 50 women in 15 hospitals in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have been sterilised without their knowledge, and the likelihood that there are a lot more cases around South Africa is high. All the women were HIV positive.

The report comes from the Gender Equality Commission who told the SABC that “the two provinces at the hospitals that we went to were actually our samples… but we obviously know that given the nature of these complaints, definitely this practice is still happening in a number of hospitals in all nine provinces.”

DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, Jack Bloom said he is “horrified” by the report.

Bloom says: “The report indicates that women who were pregnant and found to be HIV positive were coerced into being sterilised.”

Some were forced to sign a consent form WHILE in labour, says Bloom, while “others were told that because they were HIV positive they should not ask questions about what was done to them.”

He warned, in a press statement on Tuesday, that more cases could come to light and that the ethical lapses could be as serious as the Life Esidemini tragedy. The five Gauteng hospitals implicated are: Edenvale Hospital, Tembisa Hospital, Leratong Hospital, Far East Hospital and Tambo Memorial Hospital.

“The Gauteng Health Department needs to investigate this and ensure that there is accountability so that this never happens again,” says Bloom.

The Commission for Gender Equality will be asking the South African Health Department to investigate the alleged forced sterilisations; and will be recommending that the Commission be allowed to “further investigate into all nine provinces and see what is happening”.

The Health Department has three months to respond to the findings.