POLOKWANE – A multidisciplinary team of medical specialists will meet weekly to monitor and assess conjoined twins, a boy and a girl, in preparation for a possible surgical separation.

The twins were transferred to Mankweng Hospital last week from a hospital in Phalaborwa to receive specialised, high-level care. They were delivered on January 28 and were five days old on Monday. At birth, the twins reportedly weighed about 5kg combined.

According to the Department of Health, the surgical separation will only be considered once the babies are medically stable and sufficiently mature, a process that could take several weeks.

The rare case has attracted widespread attention, including from the premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, herself a medical doctor and former MEC for Health. On Monday, Ramathuba and Health MEC Dieketseng Mashego visited the mother at Mankweng Hospital to offer support and reassurance.

The 29-year-old mother told the premier that she sometimes questioned why she and her children had to face such challenges, but said she remained hopeful that help would come.

Ramathuba assured her that a team of experts was closely monitoring the twins and would intervene surgically once it was clinically safe to do so.

Doctors and nurses at Mankweng Hospital said they were initially left speechless by the case. Specialist doctors, including neonatologists and paediatric surgeons, said it was only during delivery that they learned that the twins were conjoined, which prompted emergency intervention.

Following the discovery, the mother was urgently transferred to Mankweng Tertiary Hospital, where an emergency delivery was successfully performed. The twins are joined at the abdomen and are currently being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Doctors have confirmed that the babies are stable and responding well to treatment, describing them as showing a strong “fighting spirit” as preparations continue for their possible separation.