The Mpumalanga health department has given Shongwe Hospital until Friday to release a report into how two infants died, amid suspicions that the cause of death was a lack of oxygen.
MEC Sasekani Manzini visited the hospital on Wednesday and formally appointed a team to thoroughly investigate what happened, department spokesperson Dumisani Malamule said.
“She gave the team a deadline of Friday to submit a full report,” he said.
Malamule said that when the matter first came to their attention there were suspicions that lack of oxygen caused the babies’ deaths — but this could not be confirmed.
“The investigation will reveal all the necessary information; we will not speculate at this point,” he said.
Malamule said that no hospital employees had been suspended following the incident.
“We are not going to pinpoint [blame] at this stage. We will allow the team to carry out its investigation and submit a report to the MEC. Only then decisions will be made,” he added.