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Nehawu says the strike at the state mortuaries in Gauteng will continue until the Department commits to its promises.
The Northern Cape Health Department has raised concerns about the increasing number of unclaimed bodies at state mortuaries in the province. The department says the situation is putting pressure on storage capacity, particularly at facilities in Kimberley and Hartswater.
According to Northern Cape Health MEC, Maruping Lekwene, nearly 100 unclaimed bodies are currently being stored in provincial mortuaries.
Lekwene says, “The problem is that these bodies are unclaimed, and it’s becoming a problem because we can’t keep them forever, because as more people come, we won’t have space to accommodate. So we are busy, we have engaged with SAPS because SAPS needs to finalise their investigations to check who these bodies are, so that we can be able to properly locate them to their families. But unfortunately, most of them are not claimed, that’s the problem, and we, as Health, can’t throw them away.”
In August last year, over 3 000 unclaimed bodies were reported in mortuaries across South Africa.
The department says it is working with the police to identify the deceased, but the lack of claims from families continues to delay the process.
Over 2000 unclaimed bodies lie in government mortuaries: DOH
