Pretoria - Two Pretoria families are in for a long traumatic wait before they can finally lay their loved ones to rest, due to the delay in bureaucratic processes.
The families of Zinhle Ndala, 9, of Mamelodi and mother of two Aviwe Mondile, 21, of Soshanguve, have not been able to bury them, although their bodies have been lying in government mortuaries waiting for final clearance.
The Gauteng Health Department spokesman Steve Mabona said both cases were still under investigation by the victim identification centre of the SAPS.
Mabona said the department would only be able to release the human remains once the SAPS had concluded investigations into the murders.
The regular procedure for dealing with human remains was that they were called in by the SAPS with an incident report number and an autopsy is conducted the following working day, he said.
“An autopsy to determine the cause of death is conducted during weekdays by a forensic doctor. Once that is done the family is allowed to positively identify the body.
“Thereafter the body is then released to their undertaker.”
Mabona said the process usually takes an average of three days.
Bodies may be kept for longer than three days when the family has not identified or claimed the body or if further investigation is required.
“When more time is required for DNA analysis or when the body is burnt beyond recognition then the release of the remains could take longer than the average three days.”
Mabona said their entity as forensic pathology service depended on other stakeholders and there was no specificity about time.
“It is not in our power to determine the duration of how long the bodies are to be kept,” he said.
Zinhle’s family is still awaiting the release of their daughter’s body after she went missing and was discovered in a stormwater drain close to her Mamelodi East home on February 12.
This after the little girl was reported missing on January 4 after going out to play with her friends.
The Mondile family, from Soshanguve Block T, is also awaiting answers and closure after the badly mutilated body of Aviwe was found in a shallow grave on January 27. She had last been seen on December 28 getting into a car near her home.
Her family was able to identify her body at the Ga-Rankuwa government mortuary shortly after she was found but they too are yet to receive closure as they await the release of her body.
Pretoria News