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Stuff from Johannesburg

Disciplinary action to be taken against staff over baby swap

The Gauteng Health Department says it will be instituting a disciplinary action against a staff member involved in the swapping of newly born babies at Tambo Memorial Hospital in Boksburg last month.

The department said the two babies, a boy and a girl were born on 24 July 2020.

According to the department, the baby’s girl mother realised around 9pm when she changed the baby’s napkin that it was not her baby as she delivered a baby girl, and she instead had a baby boy.

“The department finds this incident regrettable. The hospital concedes that the identification of babies and procedure for discharge was not properly followed,” Department spokesperson Kwara Kekana said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Kekana said the hospital has reached out to the both families to resolve the matter, both mothers were interviewed by the Sister in charge and the Head of Department, and they also received counselling.

“The matter was immediately referred to the social worker to facilitate DNA testing of the babies at the request of one of the fathers. The DNA test took place on 4 August 2020. Both babies are currently admitted at Tambo Memorial Hospital whilst awaiting the DNA results,” Kekana explained.

Kekana said the hospital will continue to engage both families, as part of the redress process. – SAnews.gov.za

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The Rand Club: Jameson Raid

The Rand Club’s history is as exclusionary as it is grand. For most of its existence, it was a bastion of white, male, British-aligned power. It was famously the “nerve center” for the Jameson Raid in 1895—a botched coup attempt against Paul Kruger’s South African Republic that served as a precursor to the devastating Second Boer War. For nearly 100 years, women were not allowed to be members, and black South Africans were permitted only as staff. The club’s refusal to modernize its membership policies led to a slow decline in the late 20th century as the “new” Johannesburg moved to Sandton. By the early 2010s, the club was facing bankruptcy, its grand halls gathering dust and its membership dwindling to a few hundred traditionalists.