Following the successful separation of conjoined twins in a groundbreaking operation at Mankweng Hospital recently, the babies are doing well, Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba said on Friday.
The twins, who were born on 28 January 2026, underwent a complex surgical procedure that marked a historic milestone for South Africa’s public healthcare system.
The twins were delivered by a 29-year-old mother, who had been transferred from Maphutha Malatjie Hospital, outside Phalaborwa, after midwives detected the condition during an ultrasound.
“For now, there is nothing new that we can share with you, except that the babies are doing very well. The team is updating us on a daily basis through Prof and the hospital CEO,” the Premier said of the twins on Friday.
Earlier this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Professor Nyaweleni Tshifularo and his medical team for successfully separating the twins. In response, lead paediatric surgeon Dr Tshifularo said the team was honoured by the recognition.
READ | President hails successful separation of conjoined twins at Limpopo hospital
The Premier said that one of the babies has been extubated and was breathing on his own while the other was recovering “one step at a time.”
“As the provincial government, we continue to say that Mankweng Hospital remains our pride,” she said.
The Premier’s comments come as Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi visited the hospital following the twins’ procedure.
The Minister's visit to the facility on Friday reinforced government`s commitment to innovative surgeries while also inspiring similar deeds across public health facilities.
Following his visit to the babies’ wards, the Minister expressed his excitement at what has been achieved.
“I’m very excited like everybody else but I suspect that my excitement is a little bit different from most of you. It is different because you are celebrating a procedure like this that has happened in a public hospital in a rural area and you are saying it should not have been because we’ve developed a very bad narrative here in South Africa, which has been created mostly in the media that healthcare only happens in the four walls of a private hospital.
"Outside of that, there’s a belief that there is no healthcare at all,” the Minister explained.
“Mankweng Hospital took us to where we want to go,” said the Minister, who also recalled that the first heart procedure in the country took place at the Groote Schuur Hospital in the Western Cape in 1967.
Good facilities
He stressed that people who work in public hospitals are knowledgeable.
In the doorstep interview, the Minister added that he had given the Council of Medical Schemes CEO a phone call on Thursday, where he inquired about how much the family of the twins would have paid, had their procedure been carried out at a private hospital.
The cost, he said, would have “easily been between R3.5 and R4.5 million. Where was this woman [the twins’ mother] going to take that money from?” he remarked.
He further added that good facilities are needed in public hospitals.
Construction
Limpopo province is in the process of building an academic hospital. Motsoaledi was also due to visit the academic hospital’s building site this afternoon.
In the State of the Nation Address last month, President Ramaphosa said the country will be undertaking substantial investment in health infrastructure, prioritising the construction and revitalisation of academic hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Premier added that a home is being built for the family of twins, who have three other siblings.
“We will make sure that they are discharged to a proper home. We will continue to support them,” said Premier Ramathuba, who also expressed pride in the work of the doctors at Mankweng Hospital. -SAnews.gov.za
