Justice sought after negligence of midwife

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit is currently helping Carien Möller ander her husband, Jaco, Alysia von Kloëg and her husband, Brendon, in their respective cases against Yolande Maritz, a former midwife from Pretoria.

Möller and the Von Kloëg couple respectively laid charges of culpable homicide and attempted murder with the SAPS against Maritz after negligence during birth apparently led to the death of the Von Kloëg’s baby boy nine days after his birth. Möller’s daughter was left with cerebral palsy. The unit holds a watching brief in these cases.

Maritz allegedly exceeded the recommended dose of Cytotec by giving Möller two tablets at once, after which she began experiencing severe contractions and her baby went into shock during birth.

The police investigation into the unnatural death of the Von Kloëg couple’s son follows allegations that Maritz did not heed the parents’ concerns about abnormalities during the sonar scan done at 24 weeks. Furthermore, Von Kloëg claims that Maritz gave her tablets that appeared to be sedatives after which she started having contractions several minutes later and their son was born about an hour later. Von Kloëg says she knew something was wrong because her little boy was breathing abnormally and didn’t make a sound.

In 2021, Maritz was found guilty of negligent and unprofessional behavior by the South African Nursing Council and permanently deregistered as a midwife. She appealed the finding, but it was dismissed.

In January this year, the Private Prosecution Unit wrote to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) about the status of the cases opened against Maritz. According to the NPA, the cases have been transferred to a specialized unit for investigations.

“We are encouraged by this development, and we believe that she must respond to all the criminal charges against her. However, it is worrying that it requires repeated intervention from the Private Prosecution Unit to ensure that the criminal justice system functions as it should,” says Barry Bateman, spokesperson for the Private Prosecution Unit.