Two women accused of aborting 25 foetuses and disposing of the bodies appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
The case against them was postponed for further investigation.
A registered nurse, Lulama Cabela, and her alleged receptionist, Babalwa Cabela, were arrested in February last year and are facing 25 counts of concealment of birth. The women are currently out on bail of R5 000 each.
The arrests followed an ongoing investigation into illegal abortions in the Nelson Mandela Bay area.
The investigating officer’s affidavit revealed how he had obtained a search warrant and visited a clinic in central Port Elizabeth where he discovered frozen foetuses in red packets packed to the brim in a freezer.
“I went into the office and opened a chest freezer, I opened red packets which contained frozen foetuses. I also confiscated medicine, equipment and documentation used for abortions,” the affidavit read.
Police discovered several foetuses packed into a deep freezer, 25 of the bodies were fully formed.
The charge sheet indicated that Lulama Cabela was employed as a registered nurse at a facility which provided pre-natal and post-natal care to mother and child.
The State alleges that the nurse used the facility and her home to perform abortions on pregnant women from the 13-week gestation period onwards.
The case against them was postponed until May 5.
-African News Agency (ANA)
