Families anguished by delays at Hillbrow Mortuary

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom MPL says the party has alerted Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko to the unacceptable situation at Hillbrow Mortuary.

HILLBROW MORTUARY NOT RELEASING BODIES TO FAMILIES

It is reported that bodies are not released for burial by the Hillbrow Mortuary because of delayed post-mortems.

“Families are anguished as the bodies of their loved ones are not released. This issue needs to be resolved urgently.” –Bloom

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DA’S JACK BLOOM EXPLAINS POST-MORTEM PROCEDURE

He added that all cases of unnatural death are supposed to be sent to the state mortuaries for a post-mortem, which should be done within two days.

“But the backlog at Hillbrow has grown to about 100 bodies, and families are waiting for more than a week before the body is released.

“In one case, the family of a man who was murdered on Sunday 16 July are still waiting to bury him. Funeral parlours also complain that bodies are sometimes released in a decomposed state,” Bloom claimed.

“There is a general problem of poor management and staff shortages at the nine mortuaries run by the Gauteng Health Department, but the Hillbrow seems to be worst affected,” he reflected on the crisis.

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BODIES ON THE FLOOR AT PHOENIX MORGUE

This isn’t the first time for state morgues to make headlines due to poor services. Last year the Phoenix Forensic Mortuary in Durban trended for similar reasons. It was reported that the building was filled with the stench of dead bodies lying around, and hovering flies due to it being incapacitated.

An inspection discovered bodies laying on the floor of unidentified people from the 2021 July unrest as well as the 2022 KZN floods.

ALSO READ: Phoenix mortuary – flies, stench and bodies lying EVERYWHERE