By Johnathan Paoli
The Gauteng Health Department has dismissed claims by the Democratic Alliance that there is a crisis in the province’s state mortuaries.
As of August, there were 3186 unclaimed bodies in the country’s state mortuaries, with Gauteng accounting for 176 of the bodies.
DA MPL Madeleine Hicklin has accused the department of allowing the situation to reach alarming levels, with many families unable or unwilling to claim the bodies of their loved ones due to financial constraints or bureaucratic hurdles.
She also called for robust regulations to prevent the misidentification of bodies.
However, department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said that a number of initiatives were being implemented to deal with unclaimed bodies.
He also hit back at Hicklin for exaggerating the extent of the problem, saying Gauteng “was at 5th place accounting for 176 unclaimed bodies, while the Western Cape was at 4th place with 299 unclaimed bodies with KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo having the largest numbers of unclaimed bodies respectively”.
He said the department continued to leverage technology to develop a comprehensive ICT strategy.
“Currently, a provincial digital fingerprint system fortracing on unidentified bodies is being implemented,” Modiba said.
Other initiatives being explored included implementing electronic tagging to reduce the risk of handing over incorrectly identified bodies, and establishing a 24-hour autopsy service to effectively manage the caseload.
The department was also constantly engaging municipalities to accelerate the issue of pauper burials as this was a municipal competency.
Modiba denied that the DA was being excluded from working with the department to address the issue, saying that the latest Forensic Medical Service’s performance review and planning session was an internal operational and administrative session and not open to the public.
In March, the province reportedly had no unclaimed bodies in its state mortuaries. In September last year, there were 1009 unclaimed bodies.
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