- PREMIER STEPS IN TOHOUSE CONJOINED TWINS - April 1, 2026
- Provincial governmentupdates on developmentsafter floods-related disaster - March 5, 2026
- South Africa Counts the Cost of Food Waste - September 28, 2025
The Limpopo provincial government has moved with speed to begin the construction of a house for the family of the conjoined twins who were separated during a recent historic surgery performed at Mankweng Hospital.
On Monday Premier Phophi Ramathuba led a high level government delegation to Navana section in Lulekani township outside Phalaborwa where she performed a sod turning exercise marking the beginning of a modern house to accommodate the twins whose story has been an inspiration for many.
The 29-year-old mother gave birth to a set of conjoined twin boys at Mankweng Hospital after she was referred from Maphutha Malatjie Hospital.
“Following weeks of medical investigations, the conjoined twins were successfully separated through historic surgery performed by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians led by Professor Nyaweleni Tshifularo at Mankweng Hospital on 17 March 2026,” said Ramathuba’s office in a statement.
The government hailed the separation surgery as highly successful and said fund raising efforts got underway shortly after the successful separation.
“Before the historic separation at the rural hospital, Premier Ramathuba had promised to build a decent home for the family of the conjoined twins, which led to her hosting the Premier’s Annual Golf Day for a good cause, to raise funds to build the house,” said the Premier’s office.
“Premier Ramathuba continues to prove that the provincial government is not governing through rhetoric but by implementation, as she leads this heartwarming sod-turning ceremony in Lulekani,” said the government also calling for prayers as well as support for the twins and their young mother. The children are believed to have recovered well after surgery and remain in healthy state.
The Premier was accompanied by the MEC responsible for economic development, tourism and environmental affairs Tshitereke Matibe.
It successful surgery adds to South Africa’s story of historic unprecedented medical interventions. The first set of conjoined twins were born in 1988 to a Soweto mother. Mpho le Mphonyana were born joined in the head and shared a major vessel carrying blood to the brain, a section of skull and a large amount of brain tissue making their separation nigh-impossible.
Mpho le Mphonyana underwent a complicated seven-hour surgery performed by a team of no less than 40 medical practitioners at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto.
Although the separation of the Mathibela twins had been successful, Mphonyana developed complications and succumbed to pneumonia a year after the surgery with Mpho going on to live for 31 more years before drying of a lung infection.
