The Chairperson of the National Forensic Pathology Services Committee, Dr Thakadu Mamashela, said the cause of the death of most of the bodies that are unclaimed and unidentifiable at government mortuaries, were violence related.
This after it emerged that there are 3 186 such bodies at government mortuaries across the country, with KwaZulu-Natal accounting for 1 257 cases, while Eastern Cape has 526 cases.
These emerged when the Department of Health briefed the Portfolio Committee on Health, on the status of unclaimed bodies in state mortuaries and a response from the department on the Health Market Inquiry Report.
“The level of violence in the country, across provinces, is quite at the high level and alarming rate.
That is a societal issue in terms of behavioural issues and most of these deaths are avoidable,” said Dr Mamashela, who was speaking on YouFM News Hour with Motlhaping Modise.
He said most of these are lying at forensic pathology services mortuaries, to help police investigate the unnatural deaths, which includes accidents, murders, stabbings, etc.
In addition, Mamashela highlighted that if someone is missing from a family or in a community, and no one has opened a case of a missing person with the police, that person would be picked up by the forensic pathology services and sent to their mortuaries.
“Another key factor is people that are not registered in the systems of the country, undocumented whether local or foreign.
It’s difficult to identify such people because we don’t have their records, no fingerprints, hence they remain unidentified or unknown,” explained Mamashela.
He said if the body isn’t claimed after seven days, the forensic pathology services must embark on a scientific process to identify it, depending on its nature.
According to Mamashela, the DNA testing depends on the availability of family members, but the process is always hampered if they don’t come forward, thus leaving the bodies unclaimed and unidentified.
Mamashela also expressed concern regarding other stakeholders, especially at a municipal level.
“By law the police must authorise that the body should be buried after 30 days if unclaimed.
But local authorities after 30 days, when they’re supposed to fetch the body to bury it, they also have challenges of land, resources etc.
The bodies have now been piling up, but other provinces which don’t have challenges bury these bodies,” added Mamashela.
Meanwhile, the department told the committee that efforts are underway to expedite testing through enhanced collaboration with the South African Police Service and improved resource allocation. In addition, the department said it is also engaging with provincial governments and municipalities to develop a comprehensive plan to address the shortage of burial sites, including exploring partnerships with private cemeteries and considering alternative burial methods.
