AN EXPERIENCE straight out of hell.

This is the only way to describe the ordeal of 24-year-old Ruwyda Owies of Rooiwal in the Northern Cape whose baby was stillborn while waiting for hours on an ambulance.

The Northern Cape Department of Health is currently investigating the case.

The pregnant Owies told N&S her excitement of giving birth to a healthy child turned into tragedy on Sunday, 23 February 2025.

“On that day at about half-past-three in the afternoon my water broke for the first time. I panicked and called the ambulance service, but the line stayed busy. At four o’clock, I hired private transport to take me to Vioolsdrift (10km away). Here the police also called the ambulance services in Springbok, (120km from Rooiwal),” said Owies.

Owies said they were told the paramedics had to go to three other towns before they could attend to her.

“I then went to the house of the Vioolsdrift clinic sister and told her that I was going into labour soon. She told me the clinic was closed over weekends and I should go back home to wait on the ambulance.”

Owies listened to her, but waited in vain for hours. She gave birth at 10pm that Sunday evening. But it was too late for the child.

“My baby boy’s pink little feet came out first, but his head was stuck. No one could help me.

“When his head finally came out, he was dead. Suffocated. When the police came to the house, they called the ambulance.”

Forensic staff from Springbok retrieved the baby’s remains from Owies’ home at 2.30am on Monday morning, 24 February 2025.

Just under two hours later, at 4.15am, the ambulance finally arrived at her home and took Owies to the Springbok hospital.

Ringo Isaacs, a community activist and friend of Owies, was very upset because he tried in vain to support the young mom.

“The Department of Health will have to take drastic action here. The baby could still have been alive, who knows. We’re looking for answers.”

The family is considering legal action against the department of health, according to Isaacs.

A spokesperson for the Northern Cape Department of Health, Lulu Mxekezo, expressed the department’s deepest and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved Owies family.

“We are investigating the incident and will update the family on the progress,” says Mxekezo.