R1000 tag on a baby

POLOKWANE – A young woman’s desperate decision to legally abort her unborn child resulted in her being held against her will by a back-street abortionist in the city recently.

The woman, who is in her early 20s and a university student, shared her nightmarish ordeal with Review exclusively, on condition of anonymity. She said her reason for sharing her story was to try and prevent other women from falling into the same trap.

“If my story can save just one girl from becoming a victim, it would have made a difference,” she said.

“When I found out that I was pregnant, the fear of disappointing my parents was overwhelming, and I made the decision to terminate the pregnancy,” she explained.

“I started searching for clinics in and around Polokwane that could help me.”

She got hold of the name of a reputable clinic, and its telephone number.

Because the name of the clinic was so well-known, she did not become suspicous when the man who answered her call said he was the doctor and arranged to meet her at a restaurant in the city.

She said the man who met her was smartly dressed.

He did not protest or refuse to perform the procedure when he heard that she was already 24 weeks pregnant, more than halfway through her term of pregnancy, and four weeks over the period that an abortion may legally be performed.

The fee for the procedure would be R1 000, payable upfront in cash, he told her.

“He explained everything that would happen to me and won my trust by the manner in which he addressed me. I believed he was a specialist who knew what he was doing, and that I would be in good hands,” she said.

They left the restaurant together and the man eventually led her down a filthy alley to the back of some old, seemingly abandoned buildings. “I confronted the man saying that this did not look like the reputable clinic that was advertised, to which he replied that of course it wasn’t, adding that I should just relax as he was the only help I had.

As she was being led to a room where two sponge matresses were laid on the floor, she noticed the presence of some groups of men who appeared to be Nigerians and Pakistanis. They were watching her every move very closely.

The “doctor” kept reassuring her telling her everything would be fine as long as she did what he said. He explained that the procedure would be simple and no surgery would be involved. It would take about 45 minutes, he said.

“I was so scared. I told him that I had changed my mind and no longer wanted to go through with the abortion but he said that I did not have a choice and that no one else would even attempt to help me as my pregnancy was so far advanced. He said as I had entered the building willingly, there was no turning back.

“I said that I would scream, to which he replied that no one would hear me, and the men who I had seen would rather kill me before helping me. He said they would never let me leave if I did not go through with the procedure. I was terrified and just wanted everything to be over so I complied.”

He wanted to fondle her, saying this would make the medication given to her work better, but she refused. Once the medication had been given to her, he left saying he was going to get other medication that would assist in cleansing her womb once the abortion was over.

When he left, he locked her inside the filthy room. Nearly two hours later het returned.

“I told him nothing had happened to the foetus while he was away. He said I should go home and the foetus would abort during the night. He gave me more pills, which I had to pay an extra R200 for, saying I should drink them after the foetus was gone,” she recalled.

But nothing happened that night. When she called him the next day he said I should come back for another procedure and he warned me that it could be very painful and dangerous. I had heard enough. I demanded my money back. He refused, saying there was nothing she could do as he was not a South African citizen and he would simply disappear if there was trouble.

The woman said she had since been to a general practitioner for a check up and both she and the baby would be fine. She said she was considering the option of opening a criminal case against the man.

Department of health spokesperson, Adéle van der Linde said there were only eight legal, registered facilities allowed to perform abortions in and around Polokwane. These facilities were the Mankweng, Pietersburg, and Seshego hospitals, Rethabile Health Centre, Seshego Zone 4 Clinic, Nobody Clinic, Chuene Clinic, and Maggy’s Hope Clinic, which is a private facility.

“As all the clinics are not monitored by the health department, illegal clinics and those that are not registered, should be reported to the police as soon as possible,” Van der Linde urged.

Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala said that in a case where a woman was forced to go through with an abortion she would not face criminal charges against herself, as she was considered the victim. “The police’s target is always these perpetrators who take advantage of young and naive woman when they are in their most vulnerable state and never the mothers-to-be. Report cases like these at the nearest police station and get the needed counseling from state medical facilities that are trained to do abortions for free and that will be able to give the advice needed,” he advised.