‘This house is for the children’: Ramathuba hands over new home to family of Limpopo conjoined twins

Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba has officially handed over a newly built three-bedroom house to the family of conjoined twins born earlier this year.

This marks a fulfilment of a promise she made while visiting their mother in hospital after receiving a social worker’s report showing the mother, her children and extended family were living without adequate housing.

The house was handed over to the family in Lulekani in the Ba-Phalaborwa Local Municipality in Mopani district on Wednesday as part of the province’s Service Delivery Week.

The conjoined twins were born on January 28 at Mankweng Tertiary Hospital on the outskirts of Polokwane.

The premier said the commitment inspired this year’s Premier’s Annual Golf Day which was used to raise funds for the project.

Ramathuba praised the female contractor responsible for the project saying the home had been completed ahead of schedule.

“This is the house that is built for my children. I wish we could even look at how we register it in the names of all the children, not the mother — the children,” she said.

The premier revealed that the house was initially scheduled to be handed over on Mandela Day but the handover had been brought forward because of other commitments.

Ramathuba said the 85-square-metre house features three bedrooms including a main bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, a second bathroom, a kitchen and a lounge.

She noted that before receiving the home, the children’s mother had been living with her own mother together with her five children.

“She had three children before the conjoined twins. So basically this is her first house.”

Ramathuba also used the occasion to commend healthcare workers involved in the twins’ delivery, saying their actions demonstrated the capability of Limpopo’s public health system.

She said she hoped to have lunch with the doctors and nurses at Maphutha Malatji Hospital, who recognised the complexity of the pregnancy and transferred the mother to Mankweng Tertiary Hospital.

Ramathuba also reflected on South Africa’s history of separating conjoined twins, recalling the operation on the Matibula twins from Limpopo many years ago.

She rejected claims that South Africa’s healthcare system lacked expertise or that the country was hostile to foreigners seeking specialised treatment.

Ramathuba defended her often tough stance on accountability in public hospitals, saying it stemmed from the life-and-death consequences of failures in health care.

TimesLIVE