The state of forensic mortuaries in KwaZulu-Natal has come under scrutiny following the provincial legislature Portfolio Committee on Health’s latest oversight visits.

Committee chairperson Dr Imran Keeka said that at this stage, there are approximately 900 bodies still in KZN facilities, some dating back to 2017.

“We are aware, although there was no explicit report given to us, through our committee discussions on forensic pathology services earlier this year, that there are still some bodies from the riots and the floods that are still in the Phoenix Mortuary,” Keeka said about whether the bodies were from mass death incidents like floods and looting. 

He said the reason behind this is that the South African Police Service (SAPS) processes have been incomplete. 

“I have personally written to the chairperson of the police committee, who has acknowledged my correspondence to have a discussion around this issue. Subsequent to that, we have received no response as to when that meeting might take place, and it will need to be rekindled,” Keeka said. 

Keeka also highlighted that the committee is concerned about the increasing lack of space at state forensic facilities because of the unclaimed bodies, which are still being kept in those facilities. 

“This places an immense strain on the current services,” Keeka said. 

With the closure of the Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street Mortuary, Keeka said Park Rynie Mortuary and Port Shepstone Mortuary are bearing the brunt. 

“Gale Street Mortuary is not being used for anything, and as a result, a lot of those cases have gone back to those mortuaries where they are backed up (Port Shepstone and Park Rynie),” Keeka said. 

Keeka said the oversight visits were because of complaints regarding the Park Rynie and Phoenix forensic mortuaries.

He said they received complaints about the Park Rynie Mortuary staff being rude and causing delays in releasing loved ones. Religious requests for expedited post-mortems are never assisted. 

“During this interaction, we also invited the Port Shepstone management to attend our meeting. While we didn’t visit the facility itself, we are aware that most of the challenges that we mentioned around the Park Rynie Mortuary are indeed similar at the Port Shepstone Mortuary,” Keeka said. 

“The reason is that, again, it boils down to funding to solve many of the infrastructure issues, which have been put on the back burner because of the department’s precarious financial position.” 

Keeka said last year they engaged with the Pietermaritzburg Forensic Pathology Services; they have not visited the mortuary, but have received a presentation. 

He said they are conducting oversight visits over a period of time because they have difficulty obtaining slots. 

“As soon as we find more slots, we’ll be visiting more facilities,” Keeka said. 

thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za

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