South Africa

Unclaimed bodies pile up in Newcastle and Madadeni mortuaries

Newcastle and Madadeni’s mortuaries, along with eight other mortuaries in KwaZulu-Natal, are encountering problems related to space availability.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla revealed this information in response to a parliamentary question, raised by Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Evelyn Rayne Wilson.

Wilson specifically inquired about the mortuaries across the country, focusing on their capability to handle power outages and prevent body decomposition, as well as any concerns regarding refrigeration facilities and space.

Regarding the space limitations, Minister Phaahla identified several KZN facilities. These include Newcastle, Madadeni, Ladysmith, Vryheid, Port Shepstone, Nongoma, Harding, and Estcourt. These facilities may face challenges with their refrigeration capacity due to unclaimed bodies.

Additionally, mortuaries in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, and Western Cape are also grappling with similar issues.

The Health Minister, Joe Phaahla, assured that all mortuaries, including forensic and hospital mortuaries, have adequate equipment to handle power outages and prevent the decomposition of bodies.

He further emphasised the availability of backup generators at forensic mortuaries and hospital mortuaries being connected to their respective hospital’s generators. Likewise, the Health Minister also assured that proper refrigeration was in place to preserve the bodies.

Nevertheless, Minister Phaahla acknowledged that the Pinetown forensic mortuary requires a generator capable of supplying power to the entire facility. Whereas, fuel shortages sometimes affect the facilities in Phoenix, Port Shepstone, Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith, Dundee, and Kokstad.

As bodies continue to accumulate in Newcastle and Madadeni’s mortuaries, as well as in neighboring towns, concerns about the situation grow. What are your thoughts on this matter? Share your views in the comment section below.

Comments 1

Wendy Jansen van Rensburg says:

2 years ago

We have been looking for my brother, Riekert Marais for the last 6 months. No were in Pretoria where he was last seen in the mortuaries. How do I contact these mortuaries to see if he is maybe there? We hope his still alive though. Maybe someone can assist us.

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