Pretoria - Hundreds of unclaimed and unidentified bodies in state mortuaries in Gauteng will be given pauper’s burials in 30 days if not collected.
The Gauteng Department of Health’s Motalatale Modiba said relatives or friends of persons suspected to be dead were urged to look for them at Forensic Pathology Service facilities.
Dr Mathabo Mathebula, the CEO of Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, said their mortuaries had 15 bodies which had been there for less than a month.
Mathebula said four were women’s bodies and 11 the remains of males who died following admission to the hospital.
She said all the males in their mortuaries were believed to be the bodies of foreign nationals.
Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa has a total of 47 bodies – 18 children and 29 adults.
Of that number, 20 are male adults, nine boys, nine women and nine girls, all of whom died at the hospital.
The hospital’s assistant director for Patient Administration and Logistics, Pule Majoro, said their turnaround time was usually a week.
Majoro said most of the bodies they had in storage were known and waiting for removal by their families.
He said the hospital only had four unidentified men of foreign origin.
All the bodies, according to Majoro, had been there for less than two months, except for the unidentified men.
The Forensic Pathology Service’s Pretoria facilities alone has 263 unclaimed bodies, 69 in Ga-Rankuwa, and eight at the Bronkhorstspruit facility.
Morgues in Germiston have 127, and there are nine in Heidelberg, 94 in Sebokeng, Springs with 49, Carletonville 45, Diepkloof 49, Joburg 187 and 38 for Roodepoort.
Modiba said by law, failure to identify and collect bodies within 30 days following public calls meant that the facilities were allowed to give them a pauper’s burial.
According to the Pauper Burial Policy in South Africa, a body is buried at the cost of the municipality at a cemetery determined by the authority.
A pauper’s funeral, now known as a public health funeral, is a very basic funeral that’s arranged and paid for by the local municipality, which arranges public health funerals when someone dies without any friends or family to take care of the arrangements.
Modiba said Gauteng had 938 bodies overall.
“We know that many families want that closure and that is why we are appealing to everyone that suspects that something may have
happened to their loved ones to visit one of the facilities to check if they are there. They need to present themselves at the facilities, with copies of their ID as well as a copy of the dead person’s documents.
“The reality of the matter is that we can only keep the bodies for a limited period.”
Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said the ever-growing number of unclaimed and unidentified bodies was increasing by the day.
“There are families who have been looking for their loved ones not knowing where they are.
“We encourage them to visit mortuaries to check if their loved ones are not part of the unclaimed bodies, and if that is the case, they can give them a proper burial.”
Nkomo-Ralehoko said if the dead was a foreign national, a passport, asylum seeker certificate or a letter from their country of origin confirming who they were would be needed.
Otherwise, if a body was not identified or claimed within seven days, fingerprints would be sent to the SAPS Criminal Record Centre for identification, and to the Department of Home Affairs for matching with their records.
If the identification process was successful, the next of kin would be made aware through the investigating officer for final release and burial or cremation.
Pretoria News